In the five years since their last album
Gimme Some, the three members of
Peter Bjorn and John were very busy. They started a record label, Ingrid, built their own studio, produced other artists, and each worked on solo projects. When they decided to get back together to make their seventh album,
Breakin' Point, they turned to outside producers to help them get a slick modern pop sound. By calling in
Patrik Berger,
Paul Epworth,
Greg Kurstin, and
Emile Haynie, they availed themselves of the services of guys who had worked with artists as huge as
Kanye West and
Adele, as awesome as
Robyn, and as far afield from their sound as
Linkin Park. Not surprisingly, the album has a studio sheen unlike any
PB and J album to date, with ornately smoothed-out arrangements made for pop radio. It's quite a different approach for the trio, and it doesn't do them any favors. The songs blend into each other without registering, and
Breakin' Point has none of the drama and energy of their best work; there's no "Young Folks" here, no sparse ballads to tear at heartstrings, no jumped-up power pop to raise pulses. They made the choice to make a "pop" album and it has no pop at all. There's a definite lack of dynamics within the songs, and from song to song, which is truly a shame because apart from
Spoon there are few bands of their stature who use space and volume to such great effect. Surprisingly, the use of a range of producers didn't lead to any variety between songs. Either
Peter Bjorn and John made sure to mix it all to sound basically the same, or the producers all use the same techniques, which is a sad comment on the state of pop in 2016. Without any sharp hooks or interesting productions, the album just rolls along like 40 minutes of innocuous modern alternative radio with no high points to speak of, nothing to make the album seem like anything more than a calculated career move. There are a couple of low points worth mentioning; the whistling on the title track is a sad reminder of "Young Folks," and "Pretty Dumb, Pretty Lame" has some truly cheesy,
Sugar Ray-ish production, which is sort of ironic since it's one of the tracks the trio handled themselves. That being said, it's not entirely free of charms;
Peter's voice is as nimble and expressive as ever, and a couple songs (like the new wave-y "In This Town") have nice enough hooks. The minuses overwhelm the pluses, however, and the rampant mediocrity takes care of the rest.
Breakin' Point is well titled since it may likely be the point where many
PB and J fans who have stuck with the band over the years will find themselves walking away. At the very least, they'll give this album a hard pass and revisit one of their other albums, one where they made great pop music without pandering to someone's idea of what pop should sound like. [
Breakin' Point was also released on LP.] ~ Tim Sendra