Clara Moto

Finding its groove in a bright and snap-happy minimalism, Polyamour is a crisp, clean collection of IDM-flavoured microhouse from Austrian producer Clara Moto. Not shy of vocals or the creative highs of beat repeat, Moto's metronomic force is most liberated in the strident groove of "Three Minutes" and under Mimu's fragile vocals in "Deer and Fox." Her up-tempo tracks make for mostly light fare, as the house-happy drive doesn't ever really go anywhere climatic. Still, like raindrops on a beat machine, Polyamour's percolating rhythms do make for a playful quality that bubbles over the album's restrained, yet sub-friendly, rhythms. It's in the album's ambient numbers, however, where Moto's gift for frequency-bending melodies and spacious atmospherics really shine. Capturing sunset in the glitch and keys of "Goodnight Twilight" or sailing a vocal line through the spaciousness "Joy Of My Heart," when Moto matches her emotive power with her digital restraint it leads to flawless soundscapes.