On The Screaming Pope’s latest album release, the electronic music veteran with over 40 years of experience returns with a set of freshly curated pieces of organic and intricate electronics that ooze with personality, carrying the torch for a great style of music, while setting a sound of its own for its maker.
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, The Screaming Pope is the solo electronics project for producer and engineer George Bolton. Bolton has been writing and performing electronic music since 1979, in various formats, as a solo artist or in a band. What you gain from 40-plus years in the music industry is experience, and Bolton has amassed a massive amount of this, which is apparent in his rich, musical sampling, and his forward-thinking approach, creating music using loops, and some AI-generated vocals.
George Bolton’s sound on his latest album, titled Correct Picture Color, can be summed up as earthy, percussive, and lush. Full of organic-sounding beats, woodwinds, and other airy atmospherics, the general air of those songs is that of a jungle clearing into a dazzling waterfall. Even if the actual concepts behind the sound might be way off from that description, still the Bonobo-meets-Amon-Tobin level of intricate earthiness on most of the songs in this album makes it an effortless and enjoyable listen from beginning to end.
Accidental Mullet has a modern hip-hop stagger that isn’t at all accidental. Its hard-hitting beats and Massive Attack-inspired production, with experimental delays and delicate vocal deliveries, make this early piece a memorable one that will take a moment to fade away from the listener’s mind. Scrub-A-Dub is another short piece with experimental delays. This time incorporates a timeless reggae beat and a hefty sub bass that makes this piece a nostalgia train for the mid-90s. On The Wind is a puffy instrumental that’s defined by a sub-bass riff, natural atmospherics, strings, and pad sounds that make it grand and dramatic, if harmonically and melodically minimal.
Machines Making Machines Work For Me might be an exception. The song features Motorik synth samples and machine-guns beats in its hectic, looming arrangement. Not earthy, delightful nonetheless. The Latin pop vibes of Escondes are sensual. Sung en Español, Escondes is light and breezy. The presence of a synth sub-bass makes the song float above its pillowy low end, and the reverb-drenched vocals are sensational. Desert Heat’s pounding, tribal beats are dangerous and tribalistic, fitting the piece’s title.
Correct Picture Color is a collection of immaculately arranged and produced pieces of nostalgic electronics that sound delightfully vintage, yet timelessly rich and rewarding. The Screaming Pope is fully utilizing his impressive experience to craft soundscapes that are varied and different, yet never incohesive or confusing. Correct Picture Color is a sure win for lovers of this genre of sophisticated, sample-based electronica.