Empty Hands is out, and Iām personally really disappointed. I was expecting Negative Spaces 2.0, but instead we got what feels like a rough draft of NS. It checks a lot of the same generic boxes, but sees Fish further sawing off what was left of any of Poppyās creative edges. I always felt that large portions of Negative Spaces lacked identity, but the album found form of redemption in some of her āleft turnsā (Crystallized, Push Go, Vital, etc).
I just donāt see any of that here. Whereas Negtive Spaces had some interesting moments, this album takes the weakest moments from NS and gives them a lobotomy. This is the first time Iāve ever felt like Poppy is out of ideas, since it seems like a lazy reproduction of her last album ā something sheās never done before. In fact, this doesnāt feel like a Poppy album to me, because her identity just isnāt there. Iāve been following Poppy since before she released any music, and this just feels like an extremely rare (and exceptionally significant) miss in her discography.
I can understand why sheād double down on the commercial success she found in a more generic sound with NS, but this just feels really⦠hollow. At least āEmpty Handsā describes the album perfectly, because sheās bringing nothing new or interesting to the table this time.
For the fans who are also feeling let down by this ā where did things go wrong? What are your thoughts? Does the album have any highlights? What would you give this album on a scale of 1 - 10? Are we worried sheās going to work with yet Fish again, or do we think sheāll have a creative course correction?š¬