Kidneythieves : " The Mend"

It sounds like no time has passed and they are picking up where they left off. When you are ahead of your time then this is fine. Free Dominguez is obviously a vampire since her voice has not aged. "the Co-dependent Song" finds them letting up on some of the more industrial strength aggression very early on and putting them in a zip-code much close to Guano Apes. The electronics of "Who You Are" is more modern, but more pop than industrial. There is more of a Nine Inch Nails like tension to that what you would typically hear from radio oriented pop. They take a darker turn on "In Love With a Machine". This song has a really cool synth bass line that holds it together. Not as dark is the sultry simmer of "Kush Cloud" that sounds like it's about a drug dealer.  Wouldn't go as far as to call it filler, but it's the first chink in the armor.

The beat to "Migration" reminds me of Katy Perry's "E.T.", which is not a deal breaker for me. This however not as driving of a song as Perry's with a more relaxed vocal that works, but could have used more aggression to really lock me in. There is more punch thanks to the first guitar riff that really stands out on "Let Freedom Ring". There are darker overtones to "the Solution is In the Trees". The overall vibe I get from the song is that it reminds me of when the Gathering first started dabbling in electronics. There is a more trip-hop like beat to "Living Like You Did". The groove and the vocals work together and find them back in classic form. There is a looser ambiance to "World For Us' that is almost a ballad that could be found on a No Doubt album as long as they are in their more new wave phase.

This new kinder, gentler version of Kidneythieves closes out the album with an even more atmospheric piece. I'll around this up to a 9 and ponder if this is what I need in my iPod in 2016 or do I want to upload their first album since it's more industrial sounding. If you are a fan then this will make your day, because even a more pop minded version of this band is better than most of the other shit out today and a reminder that music was once better. They Kick Starter'ed this so there was no labels pressuring them to go one way or another.