East India Youth

Total Strife Forever, the debut album from William Doyle's East India Youth moniker, is a collection of familiar sounds and musical tropes delivered in a manner that can only be described as fearless. Drawing comparisons to Autre Ne Veut in its most conservative moments, the 11 tracks that make up Total Strife Forever seemingly waver between structural deconstruction, sonic restraint and wild-eyed genre-bending. With Doyle's cascading synthlines and heartbeat drum cycles being the album's only constants, Total Strife Forever sways from classic motorik instrumentals to insular electro-ballads enforced by William's Hot Chip-aping vocals. While tracks like "Total Strife Forever I" and "Midnight Koto" come off hypnotic and surrealistic, Doyle utilizes his pop sensibilities on robotic doo-wop anthems like "Dripping Down" and "Looking for Someone" to assure listeners that he never drifts towards a comfort zone. Although Doyle's vocal melodies lack focus at times, Total Strife Forever possesses enough left-turns to satisfy the most adventurous electronic music fans.