After quietly releasing a beautifully considered example of melodic ambi-disco back in 2009 (‘A Certain Distance’), Seattle-based producer Lusine (Jeff McIlwain) is back in the game, and Clash is only too pleased to metaphorically high five him on his return, although a welcome-back hug would be more apt, as listening to his lush electronica is the audio equivalent of a warm, analogue embrace.
Hugs aside, Lusine’s focus has always been understated electronic elegance with a pop bent, but this time the pop sensibilities sketched in ‘A Certain Distance’ are fleshed out in new album ‘The Waiting Room’. But the moments when pop and electronica converge are the album’s strongest. First single ‘Another Tomorrow’, for example, confidently carries a strong, processed vocal hook with equally distinctive blipped melodies, and the gliding, glitched bliss of ‘Without A Plan’ possesses a distinct everyday beauty.
In fact, it is this idea of observing the everyday in a different light that inspired McIlwain to create ‘The Waiting Room’: “I just got to thinking about all of the details you notice in some of the most mundane spaces and how sometimes you’re forced into situations that are outside of your control, but you can find beauty in anything if you look hard enough. It’s like making a world out of something that’s supposed to be only transitional.”
LUSINE ESSENTIALS
‘TWO DOTS’ (GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL)
‘INSIDE/OUT’ (GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL)
‘THE WAITING ROOM’ (GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL)