British music producer Orlando Higginbottom, known to most as Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, has built a massive following around tracks like ‘Household Goods’, ‘The Distance’, and the Bonobo-featured ‘Heartbreak’. The California-based artist dropped his debut long player ‘Trouble’ back in 2012 to much acclaim, and it’s taken him more than 10 years to bring the follow up. Titled ‘When The Lights Go’, Orlando’s sophomore studio album combines nostalgic synth-pop and emotional radio
ballads with subtle hints of electro and deeply rooted ambience. A few other styles within the electronic music landscape also rear their head at times, as ‘Forever’ brings chunky drum grooves and a wispy synth touch, ‘Sound & Rhythm’ provides a a mix of rave stabs and dizzying vocal effects, and ‘Be With You’ has a Kalkbrenner-esque vocal climax that works as perfectly on the open air festival stage as it will on your car radio. Releasing on his own Nice Age Music imprint, the album finds him return to a label where he has previously welcomed productions from names like Radio Slave, 1-800-GIRLS, and Durante.
Where to start:
Never Seen You Dance: Bright chord melodies and uplifting vocals
Forever: Fluid synth lines dance between punchy drum rhythms
Be With You: Colourful swirl of vocal harmonies and synth chords
Previous from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs:
Trouble LP (2012, Polydor)
The Distance EP (2021, Nice Age)
If you like this then check out:
Hot Chip – Freakout/Release LP (2022, Domino)
George FitzGerald – Stellar Drifting LP (2022, Domino)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – When The Lights Go LP is out now on Nice Age.