Description
Yeasayer – Fragrant World – Double Vinyl Record
Yeasayer – Fragrant World is the third studio album by the Brooklyn-based experimental pop band, released on August 21, 2012, through Secretly Canadian. Following the more accessible, psychedelic pop of Odd Blood (2010), Fragrant World pushed Yeasayer’s sound into darker, denser, and more futuristic territory. Where Odd Blood was full of bright hooks and celebratory rhythms, Fragrant World immersed itself in an otherworldly mix of warped electronics, off-kilter beats, and surreal textures, making it a more challenging, yet deeply atmospheric, listen.
The band—Chris Keating, Anand Wilder, and Ira Wolf Tuton—crafted the album as a kind of dystopian R&B record, layering synthetic tones, fractured rhythms, and manipulated vocals into a soundscape that felt alien yet strangely soulful. The songs often balance danceable grooves with an unsettling edge, a tension that gives the record its unique character. Tracks like “Henrietta,” inspired by Henrietta Lacks (whose cells became a cornerstone of medical research), combine jittery beats with eerie vocal effects, while “Longevity” reflects on mortality with warped funk rhythms and a slippery, futuristic groove.
Other highlights include “Fingers Never Bleed,” which opens the album with a blend of glitchy electronics and R&B-inspired vocal lines, setting the tone for the record’s experimental nature. “Reagan’s Skeleton” injects political commentary into a shadowy, dancefloor-ready track, while “No Bones” and “Damaged Goods” push further into avant-pop territory, full of twitchy rhythms and dense layering. The closing track, “Glass of the Microscope,” is one of the album’s most haunting and introspective moments, meditating on science, faith, and the fragility of human existence against a slow, shimmering backdrop.
Fragrant World deals with themes of mortality, science, decay, and disillusionment, contrasting with the more romantic and playful subject matter of Odd Blood. The mood is darker and more introspective, though Yeasayer’s knack for melody still cuts through the dense production. The band described the album as their attempt to create a “dystopian” pop record, and that sense of unease permeates the music.
Fragrant World received generally positive but somewhat divided reviews. Many critics praised the boldness of the sound and the band’s refusal to repeat the sugary formula of Odd Blood, while others found it too murky and difficult to penetrate. Over time, however, the album has earned appreciation as an ambitious work that highlights Yeasayer’s experimental edge and willingness to challenge their audience.
Fragrant World stands as Yeasayer’s most enigmatic and futuristic album, a bridge between their hook-heavy earlier work and the more expansive, exploratory directions they would pursue later. It captures a moment when the band leaned into the darker possibilities of experimental pop, producing a record that feels less like a collection of singles and more like an immersive, unsettling journey through a strange sonic world.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Fingers Never Bleed
Longevity
Blue Paper
Henrietta
Devil and the Deed
No Bones
Reagan’s Skeleton
Demon Road
Damaged Goods
Folk Hero Shtick
Glass of the Microscope
