Hive Mind

Melding Motown melodies and pop chords for heartbreak and house party listeners alike, Hive Mind is a triumph.

It all results in a moreish stew of hazy, swooning R&B that’s practically impossible to resist. Welcome to the party. Grab a drink and let’s watch the world go by.

One of the best R&B/soul albums of 2018.

More than one or two standout tracks, Hive Mind goes down easy as a whole; an even-keeled, laid-back drift in and out of The Internet’s signature and sophisticated soundscape. Sprinkled with codas and half-songs, the effect is natural, not jarring, like turning down an alley, or rounding a city street and stumbling into another story.

Though brief, a tardy reprise of the adventurous sound that opens the release is an exciting display of The Internet’s true brilliance, which finds them absolutely nailing every transition and avoiding the anticlimactic ending suggested by a number of the preceding tracks with a pair of stone-cold bops.

This egalitarian spirit and anti-hierarchical approach to song-making fuel the sleekest, most robust music of their career.

Hive Mind remains as soulful as ever, weaving disparate sounds and textures without feeling erratic; it’s moving even at its most minimal.

At many points the overall effect is hypnotizing with the way musical phrases interlock; the sounds are unpredictably stimulating, and the storytelling is relatable without coming off cheesy. Hive Mind, as the name suggests, presents The Internet as the tightest they’ve ever been.

In getting their own group back together, the Internet have delivered their most fully realized project to date.

Hive Mind--their mainstream-facing fourth outing--offers up another set of come-hither sounds whose confidence has taken another leap.

Hive Mind feels much more collaborative, put together in studios and homes the band rented around the world. It’s undoubtedly one of their best works: the band have a synergy that draws the listener in, allowing you to revel in their irresistible confidence, and hope they might invite you to join the party.

Free of filler and definitely worth repeating, Hive Mind is the Internet we know and love, but tighter and more refined.

Though for all the slick instrumental interplay, with guitarist Steve Lacy again outstanding, it's Syd's hushed, Aaliyah-like delivery that supplies the core emotional connection. [Aug 2018, p.111]

The result is the Internet’s most musically diverse and synergetic album to date.

Hive Mind falls ever so slightly short of “Ego Death,” though it’s still superb. The songs are a little more generalized, less specific; the music feels just a little more deliberate, though it’s still full of surprises.

On Hive Mind, the positive impact of their time apart is quickly apparent. The opener, Come Together is mature and quietly devastating in spite of its perky rhythm, an emblem of solidarity in the face of senseless violence. There’s little else here in the way of political statements, though, to the album’s benefit.

For all of Hive Mind’s merits, it still has a tendency to get lost in its own grooves and retread some of the same territory, particularly in its slower, more intimate cuts. But this is still a step forward for this young, talented crew, housing nothing but scintillating performances from Syd and, in the rare moments when the group cuts loose, some seriously intoxicating funk.

Rather than fall in love with this record from the get-go it needs a little airing and breathing time to get to grips with the finer notes, but it's sure to keep you coming back.

It's not much more than easy-listening funk, but it's freshly played, and the band sounds great together.

The group do not always connect perfectly on this album but when they do, it’s magical. Hive Mind celebrates musical collectivism and succeeds when it is at its most collaborative.

Evidently remaining under no pressure to assimilate with commercial R&B or even commit to traditional song structures, the musicians whip up another mixture of loose dance grooves and languid ballads. The effect is only a shade less stimulating than that of their previous LP.