We Fall

Album review

The debut full-length album from producer/songwriter Emile Haynie, 2015's We Fall, is a lush, star-studded affair that puts a spotlight on Haynie's grand, cinematic pop aesthetic. Having begun his career working primarily with hip-hop artists like Eminem, Ghostface Killah, and Kid Cudi, Haynie eventually expanded his reach, helming productions for such top-tier pop names as P!nk, OneRepublic, Bruno Mars, and others. With his varied musical background, Haynie has a crate digger's taste for vintage vinyl sounds, as well as a DJ's skill for recontextualizing those sounds with contemporary pop sensibilities. Consequently, Haynie is as comfortable working on a beat-heavy dance remix as he is constructing a lush, orchestral performance. With We Fall, Haynie puts all of his eclectic skills and stylistic tastes together, showcasing his studio prowess and compositional talent, as well as his knack for bringing disparate talents together to create new and serendipitously effective songs. And while one might worry at Haynie's ability to fully integrate all of these divergent elements, in the end, We Fall has a surprisingly homogenous sound steeped in a Baroque, psychedelic '60s pop and soul. In that sense, Haynie brings to mind the work of his similarly inclined contemporary Mark Ronson, whose own cameo-packed albums could easily have been inspirational antecedents for Haynie. Haynie even brings on board longtime Ronson associate Fires of Rome vocalist Andrew Wyatt, who holds his own against two legends of '60s pop with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on "Falling Apart," and the Zombies' Colin Blunstone on "Nobody Believes You." Elsewhere, there's a handful of similarly engaging cuts such as the yearning "Wait for Life" with Lana Del Rey, the languid "Little Ballerina" with Rufus Wainwright, and the catchy "Who to Blame" featuring Randy Newman.

© Matt Collar /TiVo