This album starts off with ‘Late To The Flight”, with these very airy sound effects alongside some very warm strumming. I’m not really sure what lead Laura to go down this route, but it’s certainly a weird one. Thankfully for her, she sounds incredible. I love hearing her this rugged and bluesy, it’s why I enjoyed a lot of the material on her last album so much. I mean, if you want to hear Laura in the most stripped down atmosphere she’s been in since her early days, by all means check this out pronto. Because I’ll be honest, this is really charming and Laura sounds nothing short of incredible. This instrumental grows into this very lush, beautiful drone, swelling around Laura’s performance. It’s far from where anyone’s been expecting to hear Laura, that’s for sure. But it’s a very eye-opening intro, one that for a long time I really wasn’t sure if I enjoyed or not. But it’s warm and enjoyable. On the other hand, with “May I Be The Light” this album begins to get more oddball by the minute. This one doesn’t have nearly as much of an organic feeling that the last one did. This one has Laura repeating these mantra’s very robotically while this electronic beat strums away underneath. And I’m sorry, but I’m really not that into it. Anyone who thought Laura could do with a little switch up, I’d agree. But this isn’t the switch-up anyone saw coming. I mean, thank God this girl can sing because these may just be her most heavenly bard in years. But the fact that this experimental vibe is going on underneath between these noisy synths and this rattling beat, makes it very hard to comprehend. “Rolling Thunder” has the very same left-field approach to folk, if you even want to call it that. There are so many synths and keyboards here, with Laura at the center of it all sounding so human. On the other hand, this one actually comes off really likable. Laura’s performance here is intense and rugged. Meanwhile, the spacey vibes, slick guitar licks and the smokey horns give this a very surreal and haunting atmosphere. This, to me, comes off like track that Laura should be going for if she’s going to branch out. By the end of this one, it’s absolutely gargantuan and intense, and absolutely eye-opening. Then we have “Curse of the Contemporary”, which may just be the most accessible and instantly likable track here. There are tons of very groovy bass licks and fluttering instrumentals that I just can’t help but eat up. And Laura has literally never sounded better, her vocals being so angelic in this very surreal atmosphere. Of all of the tracks here, this also simply has the most going on. The instrumental has so many layers to it and so many influences that it’s very hard to keep track of. Not to mention, this track is legitimately catchy, which I literally haven’t said once this entire album. It’s beautiful, has some slick grooves, and is still genuinely experimental. I’ll say this, I doubt Laura is going to stick with this project for now and will probably roll on to her next solo venture, but this has her sounding rejuvenated and wild.
On the other hand, “Hand Hold Hero” is this sort of intense, electronic track that I didn’t expect to hear. This one has a whole lot going on between this intense beat, Laura’s bluesy and rugged performance, and an all-around abrasive sound. This one is much less instantly gratifying then most of the tracks here, but it’s still this hulking mass of a clash of styles. I do have to say though, I’m completely interested with just how much Laura and Mike are committing to this style. So many artists these days try to be edgy and breakaway into a more experimental sound, but almost never go all the way with it. This, my friends, goes all the way. On the other hand, “Shake Your Shelter” seems like a euphoric break after that last track was a genuine onslaught. There are elements of Ambient and Drone once again, before reverting to the sound they've been working with for most of this album, which is still incredibly hard to describe. I absolutely love Laura’s very visual performance here, it adds to just how smokey this track is. This is a bizarre one to say the least. But as strange as this album continues to be, and trust me it continues to be truly hard to place, Laura does unbelievable at continuing to give this album a very human feel. This eventually turns into this very hypnotic and tense passaged that’s strange but also incredibly beautiful. Then we get basically a credits sequence in the form of “LUMP is a Product (credits)”. And I mean, to be honest, I would have been just as happy with an instrumental finale. Because as far as the instrumental goes, it’s pretty chilling. But I don’t really have that much to say about this one. It’s literally just a credits sequence read off by Laura, which is nice and all, but still.
On the other hand, “Hand Hold Hero” is this sort of intense, electronic track that I didn’t expect to hear. This one has a whole lot going on between this intense beat, Laura’s bluesy and rugged performance, and an all-around abrasive sound. This one is much less instantly gratifying then most of the tracks here, but it’s still this hulking mass of a clash of styles. I do have to say though, I’m completely interested with just how much Laura and Mike are committing to this style. So many artists these days try to be edgy and breakaway into a more experimental sound, but almost never go all the way with it. This, my friends, goes all the way. On the other hand, “Shake Your Shelter” seems like a euphoric break after that last track was a genuine onslaught. There are elements of Ambient and Drone once again, before reverting to the sound they've been working with for most of this album, which is still incredibly hard to describe. I absolutely love Laura’s very visual performance here, it adds to just how smokey this track is. This is a bizarre one to say the least. But as strange as this album continues to be, and trust me it continues to be truly hard to place, Laura does unbelievable at continuing to give this album a very human feel. This eventually turns into this very hypnotic and tense passaged that’s strange but also incredibly beautiful. Then we get basically a credits sequence in the form of “LUMP is a Product (credits)”. And I mean, to be honest, I would have been just as happy with an instrumental finale. Because as far as the instrumental goes, it’s pretty chilling. But I don’t really have that much to say about this one. It’s literally just a credits sequence read off by Laura, which is nice and all, but still.
Rating: 7.6/10
Give A Listen To: “Late To The Flight”, “Rolling Thunder”, “Curse Of The Contemporary”, “Shake Your Shelter”
Least Favorite Track: “May I Be The Light”
Genre: Experimental Folk
Overall Thoughts: Laura Marling and Mike Lindsey come together for one of the most genuinely freaky and wildly experimental projects of the year so far. This is a major departure from the wordy, pristine Folk that Laura has mastered over the years, and in some ways, you can argue that it’s one that she needed. The result is this very freakish, surreal, and very fun album filled with twists and turns from one minute to the next, as well as an indescribable genre. Now, if you’re going into this knowing either one of these artists early work, you’re going to be very confused and it’s going to take a long time to take this all in, trust me it took me a while. And it’s not a perfect album, personally, I wish it was a little longer. For the most part, this is an album filled with vibrant instrumentals and little to no choruses. But it’s still fairly breezy to listen to, and genuinely fun for the most part. I’m curious to see where this project goes if Laura and Mike ever return to it.
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