GREENGREEN

the take

Going into GREENGREEN, there were more expectations in front of CORTIS than I thought they’d be able to handle. And although I don’t particularly find this record groundbreaking or, if anything, better than their debut EP, it is something different. Yes, the songs are heavily autotuned, and that might not be something a big chunk of the audience likes, but ultimately, in CORTIS’s books, autotune is integral to their sound. As I went through the album, I realized that sometimes it blends with their sound perfectly, and sometimes, it makes me wish they hadn’t used it at all. The album opener “TNT” falls into the second category. While “REDRED” is heavily carried by its fun, textured dance beat that complements the autotuned monotonous delivery of the vocals, “TNT” is a song that would show its true bite without it. The guitars nod to a potentially interesting direction that I believe the group needs to explore fully, but for now, it’s a song trapped by its own unrealized potential to be innovative. “ACAI” and “YCC” reheat the same western rap nachos that “GO!” and “FaSHioN” did, and while “ACAI” is somewhat catchy, “YCC” is just out-of-question bad. “Wassup” is my guilty pleasure — the song I’ve listened to most from the entire album, mostly because of the writing and imagery. The mid-tempo, laid-back instrumental tries to catch up to the meaningfulness but ends up falling behind. It’s a track I still can’t decode: while I am compelled by the chill execution, something feels lackluster. The last song on the album, a two-minute “Blue Lips”, reveals the group’s biggest weakness the most. It is the kind of song that won’t work unless the songwriting is genius. There’s still so much for CORTIS to learn, and while they get their hype now from being able to deliver high-energy tracks that Gen Z loves, maturity is something that will give the band the edge it currently is short of.