Lightning Dust

Lightning Dust's career to date has progressed in a linear fashion, with each successive album moving further in the direction of synth-driven pop. On their third LP, the Vancouver, BC-based duo of Amber Webber and Joshua Wells (both of whom play in psychedelic hard rock combo Black Mountain) fully embrace vintage electronics and '80s-style teen movie keyboards. These twinkling arrangements pair perfectly with Wells' dramatic vibrato, and she effectively channels the steely-eyed cool of the Knife on the creepily danceable "Loaded Gun." The only misfire is acoustic ballad "Moon," which is at odds with the album's electronic-oriented sonic character; it would have fared much better on either of their past full-lengths, although the track is redeemed somewhat by the blanket of synths that descends in its second half. Otherwise, Fantasy is Lightning Dust's most consistent and cohesive effort to date, and is dreamy enough to live up to its otherworldly title.