Stray Tablet – “Broken Star” / “Just Smile”

Stray Tablet – “Broken Star” / “Just Smile” – Singles Review

People make me smile.  Much more than numbers do lol.  I think sometimes folks can forget I’m in promotions and know the mechanics of the machine more than they realize – this is who I am.  Anyhow.  Stray Tablet’s PULLING IN THEM DIGITS Y’ALL – LOOK LOOK LOOK!  Stray Tablet’s probably more successful than ALL of your favorite bands and artists combined according to numbers like these below!  Incredible, right?

And so there you have it!  Straight from the source.  As to why Stray Tablet needs or wants my opinion beyond what those numbers CLEARLY prove…honestly, I’m not sure.  Seems to me that confirmation has already come…so unless he’s specifically looking for what’s become usually a more dissenting opinion…

I do like being surprised though.  I actually like the majority of “Broken Star” and I’d be inclined to tell ya that it’s definitely up there with the very best I’ve heard from Stray Tablet to-date.  It’s freakishly long at over ten-minutes in length…to the point where even listening to it on YouTube will end up being interrupted by the machine adding a couple of advertisements in about halfway…but for the most part, it works.  The majority of this song is instrumental, and that’s a large part of why I think it’s got the advantage over many other cuts by Stray Tablet…quite often, I feel like it’s the sparse lyricism and vocals that tend to hold this project back by comparison.  Musically, there’s always something wild to experience and listen to, and that remains the case here on “Broken Star,” which basically goes on to form the soundtrack to a visual comic book of sorts called The Lost Robots when you view it online.  And that’s fun – that’s a great way to expand the potential for where music can travel…not that Stray Tablet needs any assistance with that according to the numbers up top there, but you get the idea.  Not only did I sincerely enjoy the bulk of “Broken Star” overall to begin with, but as it morphs and changes towards the end hinting at a potential sequel to follow, and slows right on down, that was equally cool too.  When the vocals do show up here, they’re not too much of a hinderance…I don’t know that I’m quite ready to say it adds something crucial to “Broken Star,” but it’s not taking anything away either.  All-in-all, I’m more impressed with the approach and idea behind this combination of virtual comic & music together than anything else – it’s a smart way to put your music out there – but to be fair to Stray Tablet, which I always am, it’s a genuinely fun tune to listen to.  Dude’s got a whole cosmic vibe goin’ on…it’s as odd as you’d expect from Stray Tablet, but pretty good.

I’m also gonna advocate on behalf of “Just Smile,” aka “Just Smile A While,” too.  Not only do I think the music is without a doubt some of the best I’ve heard from Stray Tablet, who is armed with a whole set of piercing tones that are very likely to freak out most people listening…but lyrically, it’s without a doubt the best this dude has done in poking some fun at that, and visually, the video was a seriously good idea.  I think that…hmm…ultimately, personality matters, context matters, and understanding where these two things meet, matters.  We KNOW that Stray Tablet chooses to be weird – we can ALL hear that, 100% of the time without a doubt – but we’ve yet to see how much genuine JOY it brings this guy to BE as weird as he is – and you get to see that in the video for “Just Smile.”  He certainly ain’t afraid to put himself out there with his music, and now you get the opportunity to see that onscreen too – I really think it was a great move for Stray Tablet.  I’m still going to readily tell ya that it’s the music that makes this cut as stellar as it is…we’re talkin’ about some real exquisite textures and tones here that’ll probably piss your neighbors right off if you’re playing it loud and proud…but it’s seriously unique and equally entertaining if you ask me.  From the moment it starts, you’ll instantly wonder HOW ON EARTH someone could come up with this…and probably WHY as well…but I dunno…the planet needs to have balance, and Stray Tablet is here to provide the strange stuff we don’t get everywhere else.  “Hey!  Can you hear me now?  Stop that music in the background.”  It’s a comment on this very moment in time that you’re listening to…which is…meta for sure, but genuinely clever.  Lyrically, it gets a whole lot more strange, but just like in the music, you get these tiny fragments that break through that can’t help but impress you on some level.  Like, Stray Tablet is singing about some seriously insightful shit on this single – and chances are, because of how authentically bizarre “Just Smile” and everything by Stray Tablet IS…it’ll fly right by people listening.

And while you’d think that would be disappointing or detrimental, I actually think that Stray Tablet enjoys that aspect of making music more-so than millions of people tuning in.  At least, that’s my theory.  These are the best two tunes I’ve heard from this project so far without a doubt, and strong steps in the right direction.

Find more music and videos by Stray Tablet at YouTube here:  https://www.youtube.com/@StrayTablet

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