The latest single from Tatum Gale, called “New Look, Same Great Flavor” is an open letter of criticism of the music industry, and is dripped with tongue-in-cheek lyrics over oozing synths and eclectic beats. The song laments on the way that the music scene is always clamoring over the “next big thing,” while ignoring some of the artists that truly break down barriers with their sound. The track is the opener from Gale’s upcoming full-length record, the independently released Pretty Green, and offers a perplexing narrative of how the music industry can keep churning out the same product. Gale mentioned about the song, “This is as hyper-pop as the album gets. It’s a super bright, punchy, distorted dance time. It is a collage of some of the gaudy, empty images we’ve seen going out on the town in the pre- and post-pandemic era.” The new single would be a good fit for fans of Toro y Moi and The Avalanches.
The song opens with plenty of commentary on how music executives will fall over themselves in order to sign a band/artist that they feel will help line their pockets. Tatum Gale sings through a vocoder through most of the song, and the syrupy synths brood over the single to allow for Gale to paint with vivid colors in the musical landscape brought forth. It brings subtle nods to other pop artists like Charli XCX and early-Billie Eilish with its “bedroom pop” feel, but the track never really goes beyond paying homage to the artists that came before him.
Overall, this is a fairly polarizing single that I didn’t enjoy as much as I was hoping to. I plan to check out the rest of Gale’s material once Pretty Green is released in full next March to see if there is more context surrounding the vibes that he went with on this track.