Photo Credit: Marilyn Hue

Released as a surprise drop 24 hours after Skrillex debuted his sophomore album Quest For Fire, Don’t Get Too Close manages to hold its own in the shadow of its sister album. The much shorter of the two, hailing in at an underwhelming 33 minutes, showcases a trendier features list with songs coming from Yung Lean, Bladee, Pinkpanthress, Prentiss, and Justin Bieber. Don’t Get Too Close is a more emotional album that relies on nostalgic teenage angst to make up for cheesy lyrics and lackluster performances.

A problem that often arises when artists release two albums back to back is that the two of them are inextricably linked, making forming an unclouded opinion nearly impossible. Don’t Get Too Close suffers greatly from this. While it seems that Skrillex attempted to get ahead of this by littering each album with references to the other—the outro for “Rumble” is used again in “Selecta,” Bibi’s performance in “Painting Rainbows” returns in “Still Here,” and both opening tracks share a nearly identical title, melody, and the same featured artist—his intention for both albums to be viewed as two halves of a whole falls flat, and instead prompts listeners to view the releases as two separate entities competing for the audience’s attention. Although Don’t Get Too Close has its strengths, Quest For Fire will always outweigh it simply by being the second studio album from Skrillex, released at a surprise show, after his hiatus. It’s hard to compete with that. 

This is a cohesive body of work that explores a blend of trap and hyper-pop sounds and toys with more elaborate songwriting that conjures feelings of romantic pining and isolation. It feels as if Skrillex chose to play it safe when it comes to melodies, as each track is danceable and trendy. The opening number “Don’t Leave Me Like This” instantly feels familiar as it’s essentially an extension of “Leave Me Like This.” It quickly fades into one of the more promising songs, “Way Back,” a collaboration between viral sensation garage pop Pinkpanthress and emo rapper Trippie Redd. Even though the juxtaposition of their distinct genres works well, and Skrillex utilizes Panthress’ signature two-step, the length of this tune is disappointing and it falls short as a result. “Selecta” directly follows as if to kick you while you’re down, as this one sounds more like a reject from Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind. The featured American rapper BEAM is also showcased on Beyonce’s Renaissance and the whole track just feels like it belongs on someone else’s album. 

Yung Lean and Bladee’s songs pass without much noise and set the tone for the rest of the album. “Summertime,” featuring longtime collaborator Kid Cudi, is a break in the clouds with an upbeat melody perfect for summer airwaves. Skrillex slows it down for the title track “Don’t Get Too Close,” which unearths Skrillex’s own vocals, a homage to his days as the frontman for From Last To First, the post-hardcore band that contributed to his success. The blast from the past is refreshing but soon overpowered by painfully juvenile lyrics and Bibi’s forced childlike rasp; although the mediocre production and lyrics such as, “And sometimes it feels like // The school day won’t end // And my mom hates me // She thinks I’m depressed,” are intentionally used to invoke nostalgia, it doesn’t make it easier to listen to. The next song continues in the same low-energy manner, but the album finishes on an upbeat note bringing back Bibi and her usual cadence on “Painting Rainbows,” a dancehall pop mix. While enjoyable, the sudden shift in tone is jarring and feels out of place as the closing number. 

At its heart Don’t Get Too Close is an emo album paying homage to Skrillex’s roots in the scene. Unfortunately, this intention is easily missed and instead comes across as a lazy release that relies on features to mask cheesy lyrics. Even the scattering of personal elements can’t save this project, and ultimately it came too late. While the album is enjoyable, it’s not impressive in a new scene dominated by TikTok stars that make genre mashups and catchy choruses look easy. The tracks don’t have the same weight as they would have a few years prior, but they do reaffirm Skrillex’s talent for collaboration and offering up-and-coming artists a platform. If this is a mid-career rebrand shifting from hardcore EDM dubstep to groovy melody-driven tracks, Skrillex may fail to keep up with the new kids. 

Written by: Q. Preston