Maxim - Overbalance

Maxim

​Overbalance
self-released; 206

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Maxim is young twenty-year-old artist from England who released an album entitled Overbalance. His music is a DIY lo-fi effort which feels largely electronic yet has a wide variety of genres. The songs feel scattered and it was hard for me to really find a signature sound. 

​He opens with “BADTOWORSE” which has a techno/new wave vibe. The song sounds a bit chaotic and something for a younger crowd as he chants something along the lines “one drink, two drink, three drink, four.”

His style immediately shifts on “Heart Beat Beat” which I thought was one of the highlights. The upbeat dance vibe is gone and is replaced by dissonant synths. Not exactly a club thumper like the first track. “Jesus Saves” is another deviation as he implements piano and organ into a more pop worthy tune. The hooks are solid. 

“Kawaii Boiis” is where I started thinking I might be getting too old for his music. The song has an almost silly hip-hop feel that felt like a parody. “Mr. Whiskey Shotter” is a highlight that goes into experimental territory yet also has catchy moments while “To Who It May Concern” reverts to hip-hop but the music is jazzy and smooth.

“I Met My Lover In A Carpet Stain” sounds like it could be a ’50s pop song. “Mama (Sakura Tree)” is a ballad while “Crash” is an emotionally heavy song. 

Maxim is a young artist with a lot of ambition. In 2017 it's not hard to explore your creativity with so  many sounds at your disposal. There is something to be said for restraining your palette of sounds. Maxim needs a little direction and needs to stay a little bit more on the course to find his sound.

​This issue is common especially with solo artists who often don’t have a producer to work with. This is called pre-production and something that is often not even considered. How will the songs relate to each other and sound cohesive? There is simply no denying that Maxim has a lot of talent in different areas. There is also no denying that “Kawaii Boiis” sounds like a completely different artist than “I Met My Lover In A Carpet Stain.”

The good news is that Maxim does know how to think outside of the box and defy convention and he often sounds good doing it. The next step is connecting the puzzle pieces and defining himself as an artist.

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