“Get Your Wish”

For three years, Porter Robinson was trapped in a protracted bout of writer’s block. After pivoting away from mainstream dance music to forge his own path as a multivariate electronic artist in the mid-aughts and becoming one of the most visible artists in the genre along the way, the North Carolina producer was unsure of what to say next. “It was impossible not to ask: Even if I do finish new music, what am I hoping is gonna happen?” he recently disclosed. “What is it I want that I don’t currently have? Am I gonna be happy then? Why am I not happy now?”

On “Get Your Wish,” the onetime Skrillex protégé grapples frankly with that depression. Robinson obscures his voice with pitch-shifting and other effects, as if to shield himself from the vulnerability of his own lyrics, which meditate on hope and ego death, sounding like reminders to his future self. “One day you choke, your urges overflow, and obsession wears you down,” he croons amidst gleaming synth pads. “But don’t you waste the suffering you’ve faced—it will serve you in due time.” Elsewhere, rock drums and lush electric piano lend additional dynamics to his usual rollercoasters of euphoria, while snippets of naturalism (a click track here, a bird whistle there) anchor his alien vocals to reality. Gone are the days of imagined universes and EDM meta-commentary; “Get Your Wish” is a joyful return for Robinson, one that expands the scope of his music while bringing him back down to earth.