What a trip. On JOYFULTALK's second album, Jay Crocker and Shawn Dicey meld electronic sounds into curious alignments, coaxing compelling sequences out of refracting instrumentation and warped textures. Even more than on 2015's MUUIXX, every sound and sample feels custom-built here, tailor-fit into the layers (and layers, and layers) that compose its seven tracks.
At the outset, "Future Energy Fields I" offers an opening mood of reflective, hymn-like stasis (its sequel closes the album out in a similar tone), before giving way to the more aggressive digital blips and soft industrial drum programming of "Monocult." Starting with what feels like a nautical blip, "Kill Scene" renders the feeling of undersea exploration, with bright bioluminescent sounds passing along its runtime. "Peace Fight," a brief, three-minute run of glitchy drums and soft synth, feels like a bit of a breather before "You Death March," which sets a cantering rhythm that slow-burns upwards into an incendiary stack of patterned sound.
It's the sort of experimental electronica that rewards deep dives and layer-by-layer excavations. And to that effect, it's well worth the effort: Plurality Trip is fascinating wormhole to get lost exploring the nuances of.
(Constellation)At the outset, "Future Energy Fields I" offers an opening mood of reflective, hymn-like stasis (its sequel closes the album out in a similar tone), before giving way to the more aggressive digital blips and soft industrial drum programming of "Monocult." Starting with what feels like a nautical blip, "Kill Scene" renders the feeling of undersea exploration, with bright bioluminescent sounds passing along its runtime. "Peace Fight," a brief, three-minute run of glitchy drums and soft synth, feels like a bit of a breather before "You Death March," which sets a cantering rhythm that slow-burns upwards into an incendiary stack of patterned sound.
It's the sort of experimental electronica that rewards deep dives and layer-by-layer excavations. And to that effect, it's well worth the effort: Plurality Trip is fascinating wormhole to get lost exploring the nuances of.