As somebody who has been listening to Vylet Pony for the last 10 years - this album was generally a massive treat for me. It's a love letter and tribute to both EDM from the early 2010's, as well as her earlier music catalogue. I love all of the different genres that this album gets into, and the diversity in production between each song. Yet, despite these differences - the songs are cohesive and all the songs naturally transition into each other to end up making an experience that can be listened as an entire album experience - as well as each singular song. The cover, which is drawn by Elena Fortune is a trippy, chaotic and beautiful piece of art which gives a great insight into the album you're about to listen to. All the different little details and references are a treat to look at. I know this might be a polarising album because of the genre, where her previous albums were more experimental, pop-influenced and story-focused - but personally I am glad that she has focused on an album where the main focus is trying to make EDM bangers and I feel succeeding in creating a fun vibe that continues throughout the entire album. While I believe the quality in songs isn't consistent across the album - and there are certain points in the album which feel unfinished and more like a demo - there's nothing on this album that I can hate.
| Tracks |
| Girls Who Are Wizards |
Wow. This album begins with a bang, introducing us with a beautiful electro-house track - backed by a fun vocal performance. I feel like it incapsulates the strengths of her work as a producer with how it effortless creates a song with a ton of energy to it. This feels like a song that Vylet Pony would have tried to make a long time ago, on something like Horse Friends or maybe Super Pony World - just with better mastering and singing. It's quite an introspective piece of work in my view. At the end of the song - she sings the lyrics to My Past is Not Today, a song from Equestria Girls which she covered a long time ago. It's a song that holds a lot of sentimental value to her, and hearing the way she performs it at the end of the song makes me feel emotional. There's also the vocal chopping - which while has always been an element to her work - I feel it is done in a way that reminds me of a lot of older My Little Pony fan music - and a callback to the way she did it in her earlier works. Finally, she samples a lot of sounds that have been featured in her earlier works. This in particular happens all throughout the album, and also in a lot of her work - but I feel the choice to sample particularly from Super Pony World and Horse Friends is a delibrate choice and is her way of trying to tribute her earlier works. I love this song. |
10/10 |
| The Story of DJ Goober |
This song existed before the rest of the album, and was an extension of a character called DJ Goober who she had written a silly fanfiction about. DJ Goober is an image of Martin Garrix holding a soccer ball - I do understand why it could be considered amusing because out of context it's a weird image. Though, it definitely fits the theme of the rest of the album and does deserve to be here. This is a big-room track that, considering the name - is inspired by Martin Garrix. Although I feel like it's a song that kind of evolves throughout the song and becomes more than a bigroom track - if that makes sense. You start with a pretty regular big-room drop - but after the singing and you get to the 2nd drop, it's a much more defined and layered drop, I like that. The highlight is the re-usage of vocals from Goldenlight, which was from the first EP I bought from her back in early 2015. And Goldenlight is probably her best work on that album, so I can understand using that. |
7/10 |
| The Queen is Back |
Admittedly, this song does feel a little like the black sleep on the album. This is a riddim track - which, while did exist in the 2010s, it feels more like an EDM track I would hear today. Despite that, I really love the production on this song. It's really crispy and it makes my brain feel a certain way. I absolutely love the lyrics and vocal performance on this song though - it's trying to be this badass wizard. It's pretty cheesy, but I actually think it fits really well with the song and justifies the inclusion on the album. I had this one on repeat for a while. |
8/10 |
| The Wizard of Wubz (feat. tracey brakes) |
BANGARANG! This song feels like Vylet's take on that song. They're quite different in you listen to both of them side-by-side, but it really feels like that's what she's trying to emulate when you listen to that song. I don't really have a lot to say about this one - I just really like this song. I think she does a lot of cool stuff - like with the melodic singing when the song is building up to it's 2nd drop. Also loved the little callback to her song Yay Intensifies! Wub the Wubz! |
9/10 |
| There's A Menu Theme Nestled Within Us All |
This song is a bit of a departure from everything else - it doesn't really feel like it's trying to be a EDM song. It feels more like something you'd hear in a video game. A menu theme? Well, maybe - but I could see it more something you'd hear while actually playing it - something from a side-scroller or in an adventure game. It feels really relaxing either way - and I get a sense of calm when listening to it. It's just so pretty. Love her reusage of the lyrics from The Great Unknown, but of course I'm going to enjoy that. I imagine it was a delibrate choice, since she likes to imagine her Super Pony World songs as a soundtrack to a game that can be played. This track just has a nice aura. |
8/10 |
| Musician of Ponyville (Horse Friends Pt. 3: Return of the Dreaded Vy Scratch​?) |
Another song inspired by Skrillex. But instead of using that influence to make another song - this feels purely more like a "cover" of All Is Fair In Love and Brostep. Which, has it's own crazy story behind the creation of that song. Also, in my mind - I like to imagine that this track is a sequel to Zombie Pony. The many callbacks in the title make me happy - the reference to multiple of her old musician names (who even remembers Vy Scratch??), and continuing the "Horse Friends" titling moniker she had on that album. The "it's fucking TRIXIE" gets me everytime on this album, holy shit. Skrillex has been a massive influence on her, and this feels like her tribute to him. It's just a very entertaining, wild and adrenaline-filling song. Whenever I hear it I just want to headbang. We are so back. |
9/10 |
| Reflected in the Eyes of the Cavern Lurker |
At the half-way point of the album, and this track feels a little disappointing compared to the rest of the album. I like the foundation of this song, however to me it still feels more like a demo with more that needs to be completed. Her ambient tracks have always been pretty amazing. I think unfortunately, it feels a little too repetitive and undercooked, and needed more work. I don't necessarily hate it though - and obviously I feel like this album did need a song like this. I am wondering about the connection between this and The Cavern Lurker, an ambient track she made many years ago. I honestly prefer that to this - it has a way more interesting atmosphere and just feels more complete - which just goes to show that this is a genre that has always been her strongsuit, even from the beginning. Whatever the case, I'm curious about the lore of this song, I guess. It's more interesting to me than the music. |
5/10 |
| Creature City (feat. Shelly the Android Lobster) |
A swing track! This feels like a peak YouTube-core song you would hear from around 2013-2014. It's a very fun track - and I really like the inclusion of Shelly. Just feels like the creative juices were flowing throughout this one. I'm not as big of a swing fan as I used to be - and I don't really have a strong nostalgia for it, so maybe the score is a little lower than expected. But this seems to be the most popular track off the album, and I can understand why. It's really good. |
8/10 |
| Potion Seller |
I think in terms of pure music, this is my favourite song on the album. I love all of the different directions that this song takes. I think she does a great job in each section, and mixing them together to create an overall seamless track. The drop in particular goes really hard - I just love the pure bass in it. Also, love the little inclusion to Hyrfaas from Super Pony World: Fairytales, which makes this album canon to the Starship Ponyville universe. I think out of every song on the album, this one will be the one that I'll probably listen to the most. |
10/10 |
| Sacred Dragon |
This feels like a song you'd hear on Monstercat or an EDM track that you'd see in a million highlights. And man, this is probably the song I felt the most nostalgic for. I really love everything about this song - the inspiring lyric/vocal performance, the very positive-sounding EDM drop, and the little electro-house breakdown in the middle. I always put this song on in the gym - it's just something that no matter what, I'll always enjoy listening to this - it's very euphoric. |
9/10 |
| Battle! Against the Banished Sorcerer Knight, Stinklebug |
Another high energy song! I loved the little nod to Flair for the Dramatic, and the inclusion of GAY LUIGI! is a fun way to open the song. I love both of the drops on this (although I do prefer the 2nd over the first) and the way that the track progresses. It feels very dynamic and lively, and the production feels really high class. I'm not really familiar with the older Civilization, so I cannot really appreciate it's inclusion on here - but I do like her adding something like that, as a nod to something from her past. |
8/10 |
| Facing Oblivion to Become the Lode Star |
I like the structure of this song - how it kinda starts kinda slow, with Vylet singing about the adventure. But as it progresses, it turns into this epic, high energy and melodic build up, leading to an exciting drop! I really enjoy the MLP vocal chopping here, and the vocals are lovely. It's just all around a very positive EDM sounding track. |
8.5/10 |
| In the Name of Friendship |
So, this ends up being the closer of the album - and I think it's very fitting. This song began it's life as something she began working in 2015, being inspired by a piece of fan-art by stereoflier. Even in the final track, she decided to change nothing from what she originally had. This song is essentially the culmination of both the album, and honestly a lot of her works. I feel like what she ends up creating, not only directly including a bunch of earlier works that she made - which I'll get to, but the general production in general feels very familiar, taking cues and elements from a lot of music she has previously made. I do appreciate that in a song like this, the message of not being ashamed, or disappointed with your earlier work shines through. I am very happy to see her showing love to these older tracks - some of which I have very fond memories. Maybe they didn't sound the greatest, or some of the ideas weren't fully executed - but they make up who you are now, and it's better to have tried then to never have tried at all. Man, at the beginning of the song - when she included all of the different musical notifs, representing her different albums and eras - I thought that was an awesome inclusion. And for the older music she did include - there was just so much. You have the following that is directly in there: Letters She Wrote Me, the transition from Our Story Begins into Wake Up Everypony!, Anthonymph and One Up!, plus she included the lyrics from Ardent Cadency, a song that she holds dearly. On top of all this, she includes a clip of herself being overcome with emotion, trying to power herself to finish this. All of this just makes this song an emotional track. Sure, in terms of pure music it doesn't do anything special. But I think that's the point - I think she tried to make the song she really wanted to nake all those years ago. And I am glad to see the result of this. Just one final note, when I heard One Up! at the end, my inital thought was that because this album was set after the events of Starship Ponyville, she wanted to bring everything full circle by having (well, one of the first songs) from the album. However, I later learnt that she specifically wanted to bring that song with her into music, when I thought was sweet. Maybe the most bias score from all the songs, but this album, and in my opinion - this and her first song are dedicated specifically for the fans who have been listening for a while - and that happens to be me. And I really appreciate that. |
10/10 |