Closer

Maria Chiara Argiros albums have progressed from the acoustic chamber jazz of her early collaborations to Forest Citys blend of sophisticated electronic avant-pop and atmospheric house. Closer focuses on concise songs with introspective lyrics, sounding almost nothing like jazz and instead resembling Morr Music-style electronic indie pop with U.K. club undertones. Opener "Light" balances a brisk beat and bright synths with lyrics about uncertainty and fear of letting go, elevating the mood with breathy trumpets. "Closer" feels like a steady procession of thoughts with rippling keyboards, though Argiro lingers on the phrase "in the sunlight" for a stretch during the middle. The less lyrical "Grow" has a fractured, garage-ish gallop and electronically altered vocal melodies, and the albums other overtly U.K. bass-inspired track, "Sun," has a blunt, dubstep-like rhythm and sighing vocal fragments which eventually form the words "close to me." "Time" drips slivers of jazz-funk synths atop a rapidly fluttering beat which eventually gains a more industrious heft. "Koala" seems like its easing its way out of confusion, looping glitched-out vocals over downtempo drums. "Air" is more of a release, with synth melodies ascending above skipping thumps. "Floating" contains some of the albums most direct lyrics, riffing on the cliche "no man is an island" in order to express detachment and isolation, while the kick drums and analog synth pulsations are appropriately reminiscent of Floating Points. Even though Closer has plenty of tracks with abstract vocals, its still the most intimate and reflective music Argiro has made, and reveals an intriguing evolution of her genre-elusive sound. ~ Paul Simpson