Dive Head First Into Krewella’s Debut Album Get Wet [Review]

Get Wet is clearly just BOOM, sexual in your face, that’s how many people take it. But how I want people to take it is in a different way. You’re getting wet, you’re jumping in, like when you jump into a pool wearing all your clothes, you’re just letting loose, you’re just kind of letting go, you’re doing something you’ve never done, you’re being free, you’re being a kid no matter how old you are. – Yasmine Yousaf

Music is truly an interesting art form isn’t it? Like paintings in a famous art museum, it is subjected to various opinions and perceptions yet they all cause our minds to do one thing; making our minds stir with imagination and creating worlds all by experiencing this one piece of art. If that holds true for music, then the three members of Krewella from Chicago are truly artists. The most incredible thing about Krewella is that they have this wondrous ability to magically transmit electronic sounds from a computer into an emotion-inducing adventure heard through your ears and experienced by your heart. That is true artistry, the ability to create something and induce emotion. Well it’s September 24th and Krewella‘s debut album Get Wet is finally here, but does it live up to the hype?

Let’s get down to business!

1. Live For The Night

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Many people would consider this opening song on the album to be the spiritual successor to “Alive” since it has a lot of pop-crossover potential and is very radio-friendly, but this doesn’t stop it from going incredibly hard just like the Krew always does. This track does an amazing job showcasing Krewella‘s ability to seamlessly blend uplifting synths with heavy basslines, which is one factor that really sets them apart from most other artists in the bass music scene.

2. We Go Down

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After the release of “Live For The Night,” which was produced by Cash Cash, some fans proclaimed that Krewella had ‘sold-out’ and fully crossed over into mainstream pop with another house anthem. However, one listen through “We Go Down” should be more than enough to put any concerns that the Krew had abandoned their roots in grimy bass music to rest. All the chopped vocals and heavy, yet melodic basslines in the chorus give this track that classic Krewella sound that fans have been yearning for more of ever since their Play Hard EP debuted last Summer. Rain Man’s metal influence comes through stronger in this track than most of the others so I can definitely tell why the Krew has been saying that this song is their favorite off the album; I like to think of this one as “Killin’ It” 2.0.

3. Come & Get It

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The first time I heard this track, which debuted on their Play Harder EP, I was so blown away. It has that classic Krewella feel I mentioned earlier but with a drum’n’bass/drumstep spin that gives it an insane amount of energy. They’ve closed their sets with this track multiple times when I’ve seen them live and after one listen through it shouldn’t be hard to tell why.

4. Enjoy The Ride

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“Enjoy The Ride” is a progressive house anthem that perfectly embodies the journey that Krewella has been through leading up to the release of Get Wet and the journey it takes you on. This track is all about living in and for the moment and isn’t that what EDM is all about? The uplifting synths, piano embellishments, and sweeping orchestral parts, when combined with Jahan and Yasmine’s passionate vocals, make for one of the most beautiful and inspiring tracks Krewella has ever released; in my eyes, this song is the true spiritual successor to “Alive.”

5. We Are One

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“We Are One” takes a page from the likes of Hardwell and W&W and goes for a bit of a big-room sound. Normally I’m not a fan of big-room at all, I just find it to be extremely underwhelming compared to the bass music I usually enjoy most; however, the way that Krewella takes the sub-kick plus horn-like synths formula and puts their own little spin on it makes it far more enjoyable for someone like me who isn’t typically into that particular style of EDM.

6. Dancing With The Devil ft. Patrick Stump and Travis Barker

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With this song, Krewella show us why many of us in the EDM scene consider them to be the modern incarnation of 90s punk/rock bands with a bit of a poppy/EDM twist; it’s only fitting that they brought in Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy and Travis Barker from Blink 182 for such a track. This tune is one of the heaviest on the album and should be more than enough to please all the bassheads out there. Stump has been polarizing fans with his ambition for nearly a decade and he teamed up with the Krew to write this track as an elegant f*ck-you to all the haters out there. Clipped wings will never hold down the kings from the Chicago underground, about to leave a legacy as they make their way to the top, with nothing but a trail of haters in their wake. This makes even more sense if you’re familiar with Yasmine’s message to internet haters.

7. Alive

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Who knows where Krewella would be today without this chart topping progressive house anthem? I’d like to think that they’d be just as successful as they are today, but I can’t ignore all the exposure that comes from having a track all over Top 40 radio stations across the country. At first I was kind of upset this was the track that launched Krewella into superstardom; it’s not that I don’t like “Alive,” I love it, but it doesn’t really fit in with the bass heavy theme of the rest of their Play Hard EP so I felt like it wasn’t representative of who Krewella was as musicians. However, now I realize that the biggest statement they were making with “Alive,” and Get Wet as a whole, is that they refuse to be pigeonholed into any one genre; they want to show the world that they can do it at all and do it better than anyone else in the scene.

8. Pass The Love Around

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Clearly the Krew wanted to do something different with this one and I feel like they did just that. I don’t exactly know what genre to call it (it kind of sounds like progressive house but definitely isn’t 128 bpm), but all I know is that this track continues to grow on me the more listen to it. Yasmine’s vocal work really shines through on this track, especially in the bridge right after the second chorus; try to listen to that part without getting goosebumps, I dare you! Jahan and Yasmine sound gorgeously organic on this track. I think the typical (not ubiquitous, but really common) gold standard of electronic music female vocals has been an ethereal siren, and I generally have no problem with that. But with Krewella I get more of an indie/pop/punk/rock vibe and I think it makes them unusually suitable for headphones as well as a club setting.

9. Ring of Fire

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While I really enjoy this track, it’s definitely not my favorite off the album.  I really dig the ominous piano chords, tight drums, and Yasmine and Jahan’s powerhouse vocals that serve as the driving force throughout the verses. However, I’m just not a huge fan of the hardstyle drop here; it’s not that I don’t like hardstyle, I do, I just don’t think it really fits into the rest of the track, which has more of a 2-step feel to it. I’m sure many people love this track, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was some people’s favorite off the whole album, but I’m patiently waiting for a sick dubstep remix of this one, hopefully from someone with a history of making some dope remixes of Krewella tracks like DotEXE, Pegboard Nerds, or Protohype.

10. Human

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This track is hands-down my favorite off the album! When I first heard preview of it on iTunes I knew it was going to be something special, but clearly I had no idea how what the Krew had in store for us. After listening to it all the way through for the first time, I just sat in my chair speechless, frozen in astonishment and overcome by all the raw and powerful emotion packed into a song that lasts just over three minutes; it’s literally impossible for me to listen to this track without getting the chills. People often knock Krewella for only having lyrics about sex and partying, but I think they really stepped up their game with some very substantive lyrics this time around, especially on this track. While this tune is definitely very different from their traditional more aggressive style of dubstep, they did an incredible job showing us that their bass music has a softer, melodic, and more emotional side to it that normally only comes through in their house-y tracks like “Alive,” “Pass The Love Around,” and “Enjoy The Ride.” The way the basslines and acoustic/electric guitar parts seamlessly blend together with Yasmine and Jahan’s passionate vocals makes for one of the most beautiful soundscapes I’ve ever had the pleasure of losing myself in; “Human” truly makes me feel alive! (Mad props to Stephen Swartz who helped produce this track; there’s a reason why his remix of “Alive” is one of my favorites!)

11. Killin’ It

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“Killin’ It” was the first Krewella track I ever heard back when it came out on Monstercat in the beginning of 2012 and I was instantly hooked on their signature blend of sensual female vocals and gut-wrenching basslines, which make for some of the most headbangable tracks known to man. If you didn’t already know that Rain Man is a huge metalhead, then this track should be more than enough to prove that that’s where his heart really is. A lot of fans were upset when they found out that “Killin’ It,” “Alive,” and “Come And Get It” were going to be on the album because they are older tracks and I’m not going to lie, I kind of was too; we love these tracks but we wanted more of something new. However, we need to remember that this is Krewella‘s DEBUT album and many of the people who are gonna be downloading it off iTunes after seeing it in top albums section have probably never heard these tracks before; it would be a shame if people who were only getting into Krewella now missed out on these incredible tracks that were huge factors in the Krew‘s rise to superstardom. 

12. This Is Not The End ft. Pegboard Nerds

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: anything with Krewella and Pegboard Nerds is pure awesomeness! When these two groups come together, some mysterious forces seem to work their magic and they always end up with something truly incredible! When Jahan and Yasmine’s voices, which are very reminiscent of female punk/rock vocals from the 90s, are combined with Pegboard Nerds patented aggressive, yet funky basslines, it makes for an incredibly devastating dubstep tune that is destined to destroy dance floors domestically and abroad. A leak of “This Is Not The End” has been going around for a while but the final studio version puts the leak to shame; while it’s mostly the same track, all the tweaking, polishing, and mastering has gone a long ways towards making this epic collaboration live up to its full potential. Note the irony here as the last track of their album is titled “This Is Not The End.” However, if you purchase the full album HERE this track actually isn’t the end of the ride because it comes with two bonus tracks: “Lights and Thunder” ft. Gareth Emery and the acoustic version of the “Enjoy The Ride.” These tracks are both incredible, but you’re going to have to buy the full album if you want to experience them for yourself!

Even though they’ve been touring constantly over the past year, you can clearly tell Jahan, Yasmine, and Rain Man have poured all of their their hearts and souls into making this album a truly engrossing experience for their Krew. Make sure you listen to this one all the way through the first time because it takes you on a journey across so many different genres and emotions; this album has something for everyone and every mood. If you haven’t noticed from reading my other posts, I’m a basshead first and foremost; I’m not really into very much house at all except for really complex or bass heavy electro (like Feed Me, Madeon, and Far Too Loud). However, I’ve found that through Get Wet, Krewella has helped me gain an appreciation for other genres that I used to write off because I thought they weren’t for me; now I finally understand what Madeon was getting at when he said if you don’t like a certain type of music you don’t understand how it’s supposed to be listened to. So I want to thank Krewella, not only for opening my eyes in this regard, but also for inspiring me to chase my dream and pursue a career in the EDM industry. I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if I didn’t go to their show in Boston two days after the marathon bombings, which helped me realize that EDM is what I’m really passionate about. People always say that music heals, but I didn’t truly believe it until I experienced it firsthand that fateful night. 

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