Lusine
's albums for
Ghostly International
have increasingly featured glitchy electro-pop songs along with finely tuned, melodic IDM and minimal techno instrumentals. With 2017's excellent
Sensorimotor
, his music incorporated rhythms and textures leaning in the directions of chillwave and post-dubstep, but still wholly recognizable as
's 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
's 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 record's glitch-pop tunes -- the latter seems like a thematic sequel to "Just a Cloud," and like that song, it's the best one on the album. "Long Light" (with another returning guest,
BenoiÌ?t 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.
balances immediate, accessible tracks with contemplative pieces requiring more patience from the listener, and whichever direction
goes, the producer is equally inventive. ~ Paul Simpson