God Is Partying
Album by Andrew W.K.
Released 10 September 2021
Rock
Label – Napalm
Rating – 6.5/10
On ‘God Is Partying’, Andrew W.K. chugs with orchestral arrangements and heavy metal riffs…
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Despite being somewhat of an introvert, I saw the worth in Andrew W.K’s ‘You’re Not Alone’; a magical, arena rock self-help party guide. The renowned partier, remembered mostly for riff machine ‘Party Hard’, one of many W.K. tracks with ‘party’ in the title, matured to the point where he put his fascination with using ‘party’ as a verb to good, sympathetic use – his 2018 album consoled, hyped up, and reminded the listener that an answer to the evils of depression is just a party away.
It’s cheesy, but sometimes that isn’t a bad thing, especially when the result is such a command of optimism – getting wasted being the most important thing in the world was suddenly something any fuddy-duddy could get on board with, and when it really goes for it, follow-up ‘God Is Partying’ has a similar effect, but through the adrenaline of Andrew’s sound rather than his lyrics.
I had to say “when it really goes for it” because ‘God Is Partying’ doesn’t necessarily click until it’s on its way out, ditching an Irish goodbye in favour of one last holler through its final few cuts. The orchestral buzz of ‘My Tower’ will place any inebriant into a state of religion; as suggested by the album’s title, the track ascends to the party of the rapture, a juxtaposition taken on by its concerning tone and lyrics amidst liveliness.
Andrew uses his bellowing vibrato to incite and raise spirits on ‘And Then We Blew Apart’, amidst influxes of piano plonks, distortion and rhythmic shifts as dramatic as its symphony; its serenity intertwined with victory themes will have the listener hugging it out with party colleagues and telling them they love them in no time – don’t judge, we’ve all done it.
But ‘I Made It’ is the ultimate victory theme, and while ‘God Is Partying’ is the less worthy cousin of ‘You’re Not Alone’, this song would have fit right in on the predecessor, giving whoever is in its blast radius one final “you can do it” burst, proclaiming “I always had the music in my heart but my head was dark” before documenting its success story, and before ‘Not Anymore’ grants a few more anthemic hooks.
Still, the less worthy cousin makes itself known under circumstances that fail to land a hefty impact despite their obvious efforts. ‘Everybody Sins’ contains that very same symphonic rock war cry that inhabits many of these tracks, while resembling the teary behemoth ‘Beyond Oblivion’ from ‘You’re Not Alone’, but strange biblical references are favoured over core catchiness, and the same can be said for ‘Bablon’, though it at least as a distinct metal riff.
The worst result these songs achieve is my sudden need to question if this ‘partier’ is being too serious for his own good. This kills me, because ‘You’re Not Alone’ never shot itself in the foot in this manner, even though I could see that being the case for some – he’s still sincere, but on ‘Stay True to Your Heart’, he’s attempting to remain infectious and uplift without a smile on his own face; the party has caved in on itself and Andrew is suddenly the buzzkill complaining about all that loud laughter coming from next door,
But he’ll still ignite some passion through the glass-smashing roars of ‘I’m in Heaven’ and the quiet-loud encouragement of ‘Remember Your Oath’ – this is the same dude that taught the world a valuable lesson on ‘You’re Not Alone’, but he saves the twilight of his magical, arena rock self-help party guide for the latter stages of ‘God Is Partying’; like with most parties, you’re ultimately punished for arriving too early.
Best tracks – ‘My Tower’ – ‘And Then We Blew Apart’ – ‘I Made It’.
Weakest track – ‘Stay True to Your Heart’.
Rating – 6.5 out of 10
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