The third album from
Sam Eastgate
's mercurial project
LA Priest
began when he was stranded in Mexico. When travel restrictions dismantled his plans to go to Belize to build a drum machine at a patron's workshop,
Eastgate
settled into a time of beachy rumination, taking inspiration from his temporary environment for the drifting, aquatic sounds that congealed as
Fase Luna
. The warped guitars and distant percussion that start off the opening track, "On," set the tone for the rest of the album, offering beach music that sounds beamed in from another planet. Part relaxed funk, part chillwave, and part alien guitar pop, the song evokes images of glistening tropical shores and tiki parties on the surface of the moon.
's smooth falsetto vocals glide over the happy grooves of "Silent," continuing the gentle and oceanic sounds by melting into a sun-damaged instrumental outro. Many of
's songs fade in and out of each other without breaking the album's pervasively pleasant windswept atmosphere.
alternates between sounding like he's kicking sand with a carefree smile, as on the peppy "It's You," or contentedly out to sea on tracks like the soft and swaying "Ocean."
is a continuous flow of these kinds of sun-bleached sounds, and while it can sometimes be hard to discern where one song filters into an interlude or the next track begins, this continuous wash of bleary melodies works as a mood that shifts but never gets too far off course. It represents a new chapter in
's sound, as well. While earlier albums found
's wobbly vision of funk delivered with drum machines, bent guitars, and fuzzy synths, there's something organic about
's dreamlike (and mostly synthesizer-free) arrangement that feels warmer and more welcoming. The friendly and lackadaisical songs blur together to create a humid daydream where troubles are nowhere to be found and there's always a full moon shining down on the night tides. ~ Fred Thomas