It was befitting that the album artwork for La Force's great 2023 album XO SKELETON was a black and white image of Ariel Engle covered in goo, as though she'd just emerged from the womb. The record was an exploration of life, death and the space between, reflected in its murky yet spellbindingly intricate soundscapes and icy splashes of electronics.
Conversely, the art for expanded deluxe XO SKELETON + is a sudden burst of colour, as lead track "protection" ushers in a newfound warmth to Engle's sonic topography. While retaining the slippery, nonmaterial essence of the original album, "protection" harnesses its misty repetitions to the end of something more affirming through lush, lived-in strings and playfully cooing vocables.
"Protection is the fruit of vigilance," the singer-songwriter said in a statement, but the song manages to do away with any negative connotations or knee-jerk urges to add the "hyper-" prefix to that word in its circular loop; a promise ring that feels like the eye of the storm.