Porches – Ricky Music
On his latest album as Porches, Aaron Maine falls apart and attempts to pick himself back up again
There’s an overriding feeling of resentment running through Aaron Maine’s latest album as Porches. Ricky Music is erratic, hectic and fragmented; nowhere more so than on 33-second long PFB, which comes completely out of the blue and goes just as quickly. The percussion, too, is often sharp, aggressive and discomforting – the thudding cowbell on the album’s brilliant lead single Do U Wanna and the piercing synths towards the end of I Can’t Even Think being prime examples.
There are more than a few moments where Maine is quite clearly breaking down. Madonna is almost Robyn-esque in its crying-on-the-dancefloor euphoria, and is the album’s finest moment. 'And the moon hangs high / Like a big fuck you / I wanna get in touch with you', he sings on its chorus, as though experiencing that drunken longing for an ex we all know too well straight from the dancefloor. Fuck_3 is all over the place in its instrumentation and lyrical delivery; a meltdown of the highest order.
Chaos often ensues within oneself following heartbreak, and Maine captures that devastating chaos beautifully on Ricky Music, sometimes too accurately. It’s not always an easy listen, but it’s certainly a very relatable one.
Listen to: Do U Wanna, Madonna, Hair