Right off the bat with this album, I’m actually really impressed with the intro track “Reverance” and just how claustrophobic and seriously heavy everything is. This is almost to the point of sounding like something out of Arca’s book. It’s just so cloudy and dreary, especially when you compare it to the sort of Alternative R&B tinged electronic stuff we’re usually used to from Lapalux. There are actually a lot of seriously stunning moments on “Reverence”, between the very sharp and abrupt instrumentals that seemingly force their way in to this very dense atmosphere. To be honest, i really love this as an introduction to the album, with the very chilling synths and very chaotic and abrupt strings and all. “Reverence” is one of the darkest Lapalux tracks I’ve ever heard, and I love that about it. Also, when did Lapalux get so damn ambient? Plus, that last huge release is seriously stunning, making for one hell of an intro. “Data Demon” is up next featuring GABi, and instantly this one is so dark and dense that I feel like I’ve accidentally put on a Haxan Cloak album, it’s THAT dark. GABi’s vocals here make this one even more chilling and seriously somber. It’s much less inviting than some of Lapalux’s early material as well. I felt like for a while he was sort of going in more of a mainstream direction to an extent. Well, maybe not MAINSTREAM, but maybe the likes of maybe a Flume? But that’s clearly not the route he’s going down here. There are some seriously experimental moments on here, and instrumentally I can’t remember the last time I heard this much going on anywhere on Lapalux’s material. Also, those very 80’s synths are also a really nice addition, giving this both a sort of Kate Bush vibe in a weird way, and fans of Com Truise will enjoy as well. “Data Demon” is a really stunning track for Lapalux. So far, hell yes I’m into this. Plus, that last 30 seconds may be some of the most intense electronic music I’be heard all year! “Petty Passion” is up next, and I do immediately like the much colder sound to this one, showing that at his core Lapalux is still very much so an electronic musician. However, the vocal samples continue to make this strikingly different than what we used to hear from Lapalux. This continues to be some seriously chilling stuff, with “Petty Passion” having almost a heavier and industrial feel to this one. The production continues to be seriously thick and the atmosphere continues to be nearly suffocating. But the very smokey vocals on this one add a very interesting contrast. But sadly, that’s sort of knocked right the hell out as soon as these much more noisy and twisted instrumentals roll in. Overall though, “Petty Passion” still comes off great, and this album continues to be by far Lapalux’s most disturbing and experimental release yet. But just like that, with “Rotted Arp” featuring Louisahhh I feel like Lapalux’s past issues come back to haunt him. I do like the very experimental edge, but to me this one just comes off a little too experimental for me. It gets to the point where I feel like I’m listing to some weird student art school film. It’s interesting in parts, but there’s a serious disconnect from Louisahhh’s vocals to Lapalux’s music. There are some cool instrumentals going on in the background and stuff, but at it’s forefront man is this ever sloppy. When things do speed up and get more interesting halfway through the track, it does get much better. But this had no need to be as long as it is. And to be honest, hearing this single from the album a few weeks ago made me not even review this to begin with. Moving on!
“Ruinism” continues on with “Falling Down”, featuring the first of two features from JFDR. This one is easily the airiest we’ve heard on this album so far. However, I also feel like it’s not nearly as interesting, mostly due to the vocals on JFDR. They’re not bad vocals, they’re actually rather beautiful. But to be honest, there’s a serious disconnect here between her and Lapalux. I actually really enjoy Lapalux’s atmosphere on “Falling Down” as well. But like I said, together there really isn’t tat much here that I can dig into. Even when come of the more artsy beats pop in, I feel like this one was thrown together too fast. I do continue to dig the very dreary tone to this one however. Then we have “Displacer” which shows Lapalux going back to his much more disturbing and truly creepy routes. Not too shockingly, it’s a big step back in the right direction. The production on “Displacer” once again comes off seriously twisted, with all of these very tightly wound instrumentals some inhuman sounding vocal snippets. The vocals here just seem to go so much more with what Lapalux is going for. And while it’s one of the shortest tracks here, it’s stunning and very ambient, hell there’s almost a little Tim Hecker trickery in there. Also, I do love how from a distance it’s still clearly Lapalux with all of these very distant electronic elements. “4EVA” featuring Talvi is up next, and this one right off the bat has just such a cool sound to it. Lapalux continues to bring in some seriously left field instrumentals and sounds, but it’s giving him a really fresh and unique sound. Talvi’s vocals, while they’re not really that unique or wild, do blend really well with the very hazy and chilled out atmosphere brought in by Lapalux. It’s almost psychedelic in a way, and almost reminds me of something Washed Out would have done maybe a few years ago. But between Lapalux and Talvi, they bring together a seriously haunting alternative R&B tinged jam. Not to mention, I can’t help but get seriously wrapped up in these very twisting instrumentals. Then, Lapalux brings us the surprisingly straightforward “Essex Is Burning”. This honestly to me sounds like a whole lot of his older material, and that’s not necessarily bad, but it’s a stark contrast from what he’s been doing here. This one sadly just comes off as unfocused overall. Between the very lazy beats and the almost criminally straightforward keyboards, I really don’t get this one at all. Lapalux to me used to have a real issue with starting and finishing ides, which is a major issue on “Essex Is Burning”. But I feel like this one doesn’t even get started practically. It’s the sloppiest track here by far, and to me just comes off as such a back step. Where did this even come from?
“Flickering” once again featuring JFDR once again brings us back to the very dark tinged alternative R&B sounds of earlier. But once again, there is some SERIOUS disconnect here. JFDR’s vocals once again are seriously beautiful and Lapalux once again really does a fantastic job of making this a seriously hazy dark tune. On their own, these elements are truly wonderful. But together, there’s little to no connection between the two. Hell, this sounds almost like two songs that were mashed together remix style in an attempt to repackage these two. Flickering has some great elements, but it’s not nearly as interesting as it could have been. Thankfully Lapalux answers with just the sort of left field and bizarre track I wanted to hear, “Running To Evaporate”. Once again this track is seriously very dreary and almost psychedelic. But more than anything, it’s seriously stunning. I love the booming bass on this one, it’s been way too long since we’ve heard anything close to a banger on here. Plus, the synths are so shimmering amongst this seriously hazy atmosphere. “Running To Evaporate” in just about every way is exactly what I wanted to hear from Lapalux. Then we have “Phase Violet”, and I’m actually really into the very ambient and dark atmosphere coming from this intro. This is easily the most quiet and least busy track I’ve heard in ages from Lapalux. It certainly has a decent and strong atmosphere to it, that’s for sure. And I certainly do like the very icy synths that once again seem very retro. But I feel like “Phase Violet” is almost a little too subtle for my liking. While some of the later moments are actually pretty adventurous sounding for Lapalux, it takes just way too long to get there. It’s still decent though, especially in the last two minutes or so, and it’s still a whole lot more structured than any of Lapalux’s early material. “Tesselate” ends this album off, and oh MAN is this ever the ending I wanted to hear from him. This track is D A R K, and seriously shows Lapalux back in Dark Ambient mode. Between the very tightly wound instrumental and the bizarre sound effects, this is actually really awesome. It’s very patience testing though, but that’s fine, this atmosphere makes it work wonderfully. Some of these drones and strong synths are done so well, it makes me really eat to hear more of this kind of stuff from Lapalux. Overall, this is solid, not perfect, but for me one of the stronger albums Lapalux has put together. It’s seriously going to alienate some of his older fans, but for others like me, this is a whole new beginning.
Rating: 7.3/10
Give A Listen To: "Reverence", "Data Demon (feat. GABi)", "4EVA (feat. Talvi)", "Running To Evaporate"
Overall Thoughts: While this album isn't perfect, I think from start to finish this might be my favorite Lapalux project, by far. I love how Lapalux is going for so much more of a darker tinge to his music, giving so much more depth to his usual sort of Alternative R&B infused electronic music. Some of his vocal guests have a weird disconnect occasionally, but overall this album's not bad at all.
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