For one thing, The Peanut Gallery, whose single “Deep Thoughts” Your EDM reviewed last month, are not just one person; they’re a duo. Now consisting of Flee Jones and Orlando, The Peanut Gallery, who had a few singles out before “Deep Thoughts” which were of a chill underground vibe, seem to have completely revamped their style in their newest single, “Time Flies By.” It’s a complete overhaul, and a bit confusing, making it difficult to tell what their upcoming album, Tales from the Basement will sound like.
While “Time Flies By” is produced by Apollo V and thus has a much more EDM-fueled beat and style, it’s a complete 180 from what The Peanut Gallery’s style was before – and there was nothing wrong with said previous style. Both Orlando and Flee Jones had great vocal texture and lyrical flow and while their beats were basic, they were very clean and it was easy to tell what their true influences were. Now…well…not. Musically “Time Flies By” is a cleanly produced disco house track, so a nod to Apollo V for that. The auto-tune on this track, however, is unfortunately way out of line. T-Pain would likely even say that it’s too much. It’s impossible to tell whether both Orlando and Flee Jones are rapping/”singing”/whatever on this track because all the vocals are tuned to the same unintelligible pitch. It’s strange and a bit jarring, especially for The Peanut Gallery’s current fan base.
If The Peanut Gallery wants to go more EDM, it sounds like they have a good beat-making ally in Apollo V. It’s also perfectly understandable if the duo wants to experiment with new sounds and styles, especially this early in their careers. That said, a more cohesive meld of their lyrical rap skills with EDM/disco beats seems to make a bit more sense than this sort of haphazard auto-tune track which seems to have gone a little too far in whatever direction the Peanut Gallery were trying to take.
“Time Flies By” and the rest of The Peanut Gallery’s singles are available to stream on their Soundcloud page.