London-based artist Loraine James' latest album, For You and I, has moved almost entirely away from her catalogue of ambient and is embracing a new sound that's nearly a complete turnaround. The album is dripping with gritty, assertive synth work so gravelly and heady it plants itself deep inside you.
Tracks like "Glitch Bitch" and "Dark as Fuck," featuring Le3 bLACK, even pull in a bit of industrial, while James pushes the feelings and layers of queer relationships, expressed in the hyper-changing soundscapes that suddenly switch to breakbeat or fat low-ends that slither under pensive synth on tracks "So Scared" and "Hand Drops."
That's not to say previous styles James has worked with in the past have disappeared altogether: "Sensual" and "Words Ear Mouth" both find their way back to a soft ambient space but with an edge, the glitch and grit still weaved throughout. Though it's a big departure for James, For You and I feels like a necessary move in a direction that's both new and familiar, all at once.
(Hyperdub)Tracks like "Glitch Bitch" and "Dark as Fuck," featuring Le3 bLACK, even pull in a bit of industrial, while James pushes the feelings and layers of queer relationships, expressed in the hyper-changing soundscapes that suddenly switch to breakbeat or fat low-ends that slither under pensive synth on tracks "So Scared" and "Hand Drops."
That's not to say previous styles James has worked with in the past have disappeared altogether: "Sensual" and "Words Ear Mouth" both find their way back to a soft ambient space but with an edge, the glitch and grit still weaved throughout. Though it's a big departure for James, For You and I feels like a necessary move in a direction that's both new and familiar, all at once.
