As a newcomer to Editions Mego,
Klara Lewis' full-length debut album
Ett sits comfortably alongside some of her peers on the label like
Fennesz and
Oneohtrix Point Never, and is a very impressive effort. Previous to
Ett she released the Klara Lewis EP, including the tracks "c a t t," "Muezzin," and "49th Hour" that are also featured on this record. The first thing that's noticeable here is that
Ett doesn't lose your focus, crafting electronic landscapes with a special attention to detail and a warm, conscious human input. The album-opening "c a t t" shuffles to climatic points and almost stops for breath as additional phases come in but always builds toward a boiling point that eventually simmers back to its original state. The album progresses into "Untilted," which could quite possibly be the closest to the album's most hypnotic dancefloor track, built around a 4/4 bass with bursts of static, almost reminiscent of the work on
Egyptrixx's 2013 album
A/B Til Infinity. Other tracks here like "Seascape" and "Shine" are more subtle moments with haunting chords reminiscent of the hall sequences in
Kubrick's The Shining or
The Caretaker albums. For the first 12 minutes, "Altered," the longest track on the album, places you in a desolate and lonely mindset like an exploration of an abandoned building, right up until the last two minutes when there is a release of hopeful chords that lead you to a more optimistic place. For a debut record, it's a very rich, mature, and engaging listen with joyous moments. It's for people who love low pulsating basses, industrial sounds, reverberated pops, and music that frequently drifts between the tranquil and unnerving. In essence, it's post-clubbing music for the jaded.