Elainie Lillios

Although the music of Elainie Lillios is firmly rooted in the new stream of musique concrète-derived aesthetics, her work offers much for fans of other forms of abstract electronica to sink their teeth into. Like the work of many of her peers also documented by Montréal's scene-defining empreintes DIGITALES label, each piece here is dynamic and gestural, with real-world sounds transforming and dissolving through unpredictable electronic processing trajectories. Lillios favours granular processing techniques that shatter sounds into particles and then sprays them out like clouds of dust or casts them across the soundscape like handfuls of pebbles. While others have employed this technique extensively, Lillios does so especially adeptly, achieving a balance between preserving the source material while conjuring a wide palette of unanticipated sonic colours. Her work often settles into an intimate mode with the use vocal source sounds. Though attractive, this feature can also occasionally feel overly prescriptive and literal, like with the texts in "Listening Beyond." Elsewhere, such as in "Arturo," textual aspects are perfectly intertwined with the sound world of the piece, only adding to the intrigue. Said intimacy and balance, as well as her penchant for resonant, droning atmospherics and dramatic contrasts, make Entre Espaces a worthwhile listen.