Hailing from New York,
lu-lu uses a single copy of LSDJ, putting out two EPs
since this April. Apparent Magnitude,
the second of these, shows lu-lu flaunting more styles, talent, and
promise in the seven minute running than many artists manage in an
entire career.
The
album opens with the confident 'Eris' which highlights the
stylistic mixture between arcadecoma. and Auxcide the rest of the
release follows; spacefaringly grandiose and melodically poignant.
'902482 Orcus' seeps early Mega Flare melancholy, leading into some
fantastic 80s synthpop-esque leads before rolling into 8bitpeopleian
melodies and percussion, finishing the with an experimental
percussive battery.
Despite
the short track lengths, through expert blending of repetition and
variation lu-lu manages to create pieces that are memorable and huge
in scope within a minuscule space. Nowhere else is this more apparent
than on the album's closer '90377 Sedna'. Laced with EDM, melodies
move through club-ready spaceraves played on brilliant sounding
instruments, before becoming floaty euphoria, and finally coming down into a chipthrash maelstrom, finishing one of the best
chip tracks of the year thus far.
The equilibrium of repetition and variation isn't quite as balanced elsewhere, however. Whilst starting large, 'Eris' runs itself thin by
the end, spilling less ideas than other tracks and with smaller hooks
too. The outro section of '50000 Quaoar' also takes an odd
compositional direction, flinging itself into a confusing ending that
sounds lumped on and superfluous.
Despite
these few nitpicks, the rest of Apparent Magnitude
is laden with beautiful harmonies and ideas. The percussion
and leads fizzle with energy and the compositional genius behind cuts
like '90377 Sedna' show a promise larger than any of the faults
present. Whilst it's not exploring anything new, Apparent
Magnitude does what it does
better than most ever have. Keep an eye on this artist for sure.
Favourite track: 90377 Sedna
