Long Light

Lusines albums for Ghostly International have increasingly featured glitchy electro-pop songs along with finely tuned, melodic IDM and minimal techno instrumentals. With 2017s excellent Sensorimotor, his music incorporated rhythms and textures leaning in the directions of chillwave and post-dubstep, but still wholly recognizable as Lusines sound. Long Light retains dance and pop influences, but seems to take more inspiration from post-minimalist composition and ambient music. Vilja Larjosto, who appeared on two of Sensorimotors standouts, returns on the hypnotic "Come and Go," where her voice is transformed into multi-tracked loops and layered into sparkling chimes, shakers, and fizzling distortion. The sly, tricky "Zero to Sixty" (featuring Sarah Jaffe) and crisp, light-headed "Dreaming" (with Asy Saavedra) are in the same mode as the previous records glitch-pop tunes -- the latter seems like a thematic sequel to "Just a Cloud," and like that song, its the best one on the album. "Long Light" (with another returning guest, Benoît Pioulard) and "Home" are more reserved and low-key, with obscured vocals and softly shuffling drums. The effervescent "Transonic" features rapidly ticking electronic beats and flickering patterns of notes that jet out like small, precise puffs of steam, while hissing ambience subtly rises in the background. Other tracks dwell on darker impulses, like the haunting "Faceless," in which floating melodies gradually emerge from a Tim Hecker-like fog. "Plateau" applies waves of bleary distortion to marimba-like percussion patterns, and "Rafters" does something similar with loops of woodwinds, faint clicks, and gentle chimes. "Double Take" is calmly propulsive, with a multitude of miniscule, prickly sounds emerging over a skipping beat pattern, and synth ribbons rapidly dazzle as the song draws to a close. Long Light balances immediate, accessible tracks with contemplative pieces requiring more patience from the listener, and whichever direction Lusine goes, the producer is equally inventive. ~ Paul Simpson

現代エレクトロニカの雄による6年ぶり9作目。前作に参加したヴォーカリストを起用してその世界観は引き継ぎながらも、よりダイナミックな展開と彼特有のミニマルなループを駆使しながら完成度を高めている。ポップな歌モノの"Zero To Sixty"やテクスチャーが煌びやかに表情を変える"Transonic"、ユニークなダウンテンポの表題曲など、色とりどりの楽曲揃い。
bounce (C)野村有正