First announced in November of 2014, the Red Hot Chili Peppers finally released their 11th studio album, “The Getaway” last Friday, June 17. Each of the thirteen tracks were co-written by the four band members and occasionally a guest writer, with one song, “Sick Love,” being written in part by Elton John.
While officially classified as funk rock and alternative rock, some of the tracks, especially the title song “The Getaway” bear distinct trance influences. For the most part, though, the newly released album does not branch far from the distinctive sound audiences have come to expect from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The band would be hard pressed to gain any new supporters with “The Getaway” album since each song sounds much like those of the first ten albums the band has released over the past several decades. Those who disliked the band before will probably still do so and fans will probably continue to appreciate the songs of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Despite the lack of innovation, this album is worth investigating.
The second track was released as this album’s first single earlier this year. Like most songs of this album, “Dark Necessities” tells a story instead of endlessly repeating a sentence or two. Even with the general good sound presented in the song, paying attention to the lyrics is a must to fully appreciate “Dark Necessities.”
“The Getaway’s” sixth track, “Sick Love,” sounds strikingly similar to the band’s 1999 song “Scar Tissue.” Though the lyrics of the two songs have nothing in common, the intonation of the words and the backing music make an unquestionable connection between the two.
Perhaps the most interesting song of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s newest album is the thirteenth and final track, “Dreams of a Samurai.” This song is perplexing. While its music is similar in style to the rest of the album, the lyrics make no sense at all and seem to be daring the listener to figure them out. Much like Beck’s “Loser,” “Dreams of a Samurai” is a conglomeration of proper English words strung together to paint surreal and nonsensical pictures.
One such stanza contains the lines “You got a little lord fish and I don’t know why I got a metamorphosis samurai.” At least the song’s title offers some consolation, as dreams tend not to make sense, so perhaps listeners are intended to sit back and enjoy the sound without worrying about listening too closely.
As with any album, “The Getaway” has its share of mediocre music with the better additions to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ repertoire. Fortunately, the band has seen fit to space out such songs, so when listening to the album in its intended order, listeners will receive breaks between the not so good ones and be able to end their listening on a good, though bizarre, note with “Dreams of a Samurai.”