HYPERYOUTH lays down quite a few important standards for Joey Valence & Brae going forward. It infers that the annual releases are set to continue, with this being their third full-length in as many years. It also solidifies how deeply their discomfort with staying in one stylistic lane runs; yet again, they’ve strived for a near-full overhaul. Most prevalently, though, it establishes some firm boundaries around what they can achieve where it previously felt like there were none.
To be fair, that sounds scarier than what it actually is. Plus, at the rate in which they’re operating, it was bound to happen eventually. Joey Valence & Brae have been speedrunning the meta of global superstars since their THE UNDERGROUND SOUND EP in 2022, while reconstituting themselves across every release since. On PUNK TACTICS, they were all in on Beastie Boys worship; less than a year later, NO HANDS was their Y2K club-rap era. HYPERYOUTH, subsequently, is a less sure-footed step—sometimes, they’re continuing down the timeline into the club classics of the 2000s; sometimes, they want to evoke bedroom-based sample-savants; sometimes, they want to spin one off into the other, or just in a completely errant direction entirely.
After how hyper-precise and focused NO HANDS was, it’s little wonder that HYPERYOUTH’s vibe feels so different just over a year later. The loose folds it wears are very uncharacteristic of Joey Valence & Brae up to now, and serve as a perfect yardstick for how far their capabilities can extend. Unsurprisingly for a duo whose bread and butter has been garish, over-the-top bangers, they don’t do introspection very well. DISCO TOMORROW is an unfortunate dud of a closer in that regard, as overt sincerity finds the pair’s basic flow stripped of all hyperbolic oomph and left to meander through a juiceless, huffing five minutes that’s the antithesis of a JVB song. PARTY’S OVER is similar, the prophetic blow of its title attributed to a mewling indie-sadboi chorus that ranks among the most ill-advised decisions Joey Valence & Brae have ever made.
What demarcates HYPERYOUTH the most is how awkward its gearshifts can be, and the noticeable effect that has. Take THE PARTY SONG, for instance, a 150BPM, breakbeat-sodden rager that gets chunked up and spliced with lush, crackling but entirely incongruous soul pieces. Both are decent; neither add up to a satisfactory whole. What’s more disheartening is how moments like that aren’t the norm on HYPERYOUTH, but they do feel it. This is a substantively longer album than either that preceded, exacerbated through its uneven, less-well-oiled sense of progression.
When things begin to click and the pair do get it right, however…well, after JVB’s proven track record over their last two albums, can the results do anything but speak for themselves? When these two are locked in and committed to being outright cartoon characters, the shine isn’t even close to wearing off. The ‘nerds-turned-club-kingpins’ transition is basically complete now, swaggering about and bandying absurd, barrel-chested one-liners like “Sydney Sweeney called me and I hanged up” in Valence’s phenomenally uncool bleat. Songs like GIVE IT TO ME and GO HARD wear an admirably straightforward confidence, and it’s a lot of fun to see how easily it gets into its slobberknocking pocket. If there’s an area where HYPERYOUTH is fully, unequivocally free to go as far as it wants, it’s here.
To that end, there’s clearly been a vested effort put towards stepping up production, specifically in samples. The cupboard of old R&B has been rifled through, to pull out The Gap Band’s Outstanding to interpolate in the Tommy Richman-esque neo-funk of BILLIE JEAN, and liberal use of Bobby Caldwell’s Cry on HAVE TO CRY. Elsewhere, though, some extra splashing out gives the title track the honour of having the first ever cleared sample of Skrillex’s Bangarang, while BUST DOWN is effectively wearing the skintight instrumental of Justin Timberlake’s Rock Your Body. To be fair, that could also be just a very close impression, like how SEE U DANCE nails a Timbaland-type beat with Rebecca Black as the note-perfect analogue for Nelly Furtado. Either way, it’s indicative of the ridiculous flagrance brought out in the best of Joey Valance & Brae. The homespun, clattering feel (particularly in the percussion this time) pitted against these big, iconic pop culture touchstones is such a great selling point to have, and one that would probably seem unearned or unfulfilling if it came from anyone else nowadays.
Therefore, it’s pretty nice that even on their by-far weakest album yet, Joey Valence & Brae are still turning out borderline indisputable quality. It goes to show the strength of the brand they’ve build, reinforced by the shakiness observed when they move away from it. Yeah, that really can’t be ignored in the overall discussion of HYPERYOUTH, but nor can the fact that it’s not spiralling into derailed disaster. Perhaps it’s most generous to call it ‘transitional’, then. There’s a lot of stuff tried; some of it works; some of it doesn’t; let’s see where we can go from here. Knowing Joey Valence & Brae, we’re probably not too far off that next step, so let’s hope that the right takeaways from HYPERYOUTH have been heeded. There’s enough justified faith to be had.
For fans of: Tyler, The Creator, Timbaland, Basement Jaxx
‘HYPERYOUTH’ by Joey Valence & Brae is released on 15th August.
Words by Luke Nuttall
how was this reviewed before the record was out?
Their PR sent us a pre-release copy for review purposes.