LUSINE - A Certain Distance

Jeff Mcllwain celebrates 10 years in the electronic music realm with a brand new album; the musician/producer is held in high esteem by many for his placid ambient/IDM workouts.

The last Barcode heard of Mcllwain was the 2003 album ‘Condensed’, but A Certain Distance is a much more realised and rounded body of work. Here, Mcllwain goes beyond his self-confined IDM boundaries to venture into ambient pop and emotive electronica.

You wouldn’t think that from the opening Operation Costs; this is very much old territory - warped vocoded vocals spiralling over crisp beats and melodic piano. The track wins you over because it’s produced by somebody whose experience knows how to mould average ideas into fertile ones.

Two Dots on the other hand amply demonstrates Lusine’s new direction, inviting overlapping female vocals to verbalise over his usual warm palette of beats and dulcet melodies. The vocals add a completely new dimension, producing a fresh, inviting and poppy edge from which Mcllwain can build additional synth patterns around.

On Tin Hat, Mcllwain regresses to more familiar climbs, and again, it’s his attention to detail that comes to the fore on this brooding, urban piece of sophisticated electronica. Likewise the following Thick Of It, inhabited by multifarious ticks and tones, balanced by vocoded vocals and snaking synthesiser lines.

Twighlight reverts back to Mcllwain’s newfound pop angle, incorporating chopped and spliced female vocals to sing atop further microscopic melodies. The track has a lush downtempo feel and the production on this track is particularly excellent, with effects and programming expertly entwined to create a complex yet effotlessly listenable mix.

A Certain Distance continues in much the same vein throughout, taking a brief detour on Every Disguise to tackle some lucid instrumental techno dance, whilst Double Vision is simply delicious with its beautifully cleansed beats scissoring beneath absorbingly reflective melodies. Meanwhile, the charged metallic pads of Cirrus, set to a platter of sturdy beats, closes the album as neatly as any track on the album might.

Going by what I’ve heard previously, this is Lusine’s best album to date by some distance, with Mcllwain summoning up all his past experience whilst displaying a tangible hunger that’s equally rewarding for the listener; particularly those with a penchant for ambient/IDM/electronica. Few will top it this year.



	LUSINE - A Certain Distance
	8.6
	Ghostly International ~ GI-87 ~ 2nd October
	Jeff Mcllwain celebrates 10 years in the electronic music realm with a brand new album; the musician/producer is held in high esteem by many for his placid ambient/IDM workouts. The last Barcode heard of Mcllwain was the 2003 album ‘Condensed’, but A Certain Distance is a much more realised and rounded body of work. Here, Mcllwain goes beyond his self-confined IDM boundaries to venture into ambient pop and emotive electronica. You wouldn’t think that from the opening Operation Costs; this is very much old territory - warped vocoded vocals spiralling over crisp beats and melodic piano. The track wins you over because it’s produced by somebody whose experience knows how to mould average ideas into fertile ones. Two Dots on the other hand amply demonstrates Lusine’s new direction, inviting overlapping female vocals to verbalise over his usual warm palette of beats and dulcet melodies. The vocals add a completely new dimension, producing a fresh, inviting and poppy edge from which Mcllwain can build additional synth patterns around. On Tin Hat, Mcllwain regresses to more familiar climbs, and again, it’s his attention to detail that comes to the fore on this brooding, urban piece of sophisticated electronica. Likewise the following Thick Of It, inhabited by multifarious ticks and tones, balanced by vocoded vocals and snaking synthesiser lines. Twighlight reverts back to Mcllwain’s newfound pop angle, incorporating chopped and spliced female vocals to sing atop further microscopic melodies. The track has a lush downtempo feel and the production on this track is particularly excellent, with effects and programming expertly entwined to create a complex yet effotlessly listenable mix. A Certain Distance continues in much the same vein throughout, taking a brief detour on Every Disguise to tackle some lucid instrumental techno dance, whilst Double Vision is simply delicious with its beautifully cleansed beats scissoring beneath absorbingly reflective melodies. Meanwhile, the charged metallic pads of Cirrus, set to a platter of sturdy beats, closes the album as neatly as any track on the album might. Going by what I’ve heard previously, this is Lusine’s best album to date by some distance, with Mcllwain summoning up all his past experience whilst displaying a tangible hunger that’s equally rewarding for the listener; particularly those with a penchant for ambient/IDM/electronica. Few will top it this year.