After semi-disappearing via obscure rumors and
Scott Cortez's
Astrobrite side effort,
Lovesliescrushing made a long overdue return with Glissceule and then via Projekt with the wondrous
Voirshn. Nearly ten years on from the spectacular
Bloweyelashwish debut,
Cortez and singer Melissa Arpin-Henry show once more that the particular magic of the duo is ever present.
Cortez has more technical toys to play with this time out -- everything is mixed onto his iMac -- but the basic principle of four-track bedroom recordings translated into stunning post-shoegaze remains. If there's a bit less of a rough edge on many of the songs, it's only because
Cortez has gotten ever more detailed with the sound. The swooping swirls of "Glixen," feeling like a candy-colored storm on the moodiest day ever, and "Anovi," with its ghostly droning shimmer, are just two examples of where everything the band can offer not only comes together but reaches a new height of transcendent beauty. Arpin-Henry's ghostly keening, swathed in echo but a soothing center to much of the looped music, is an excellent counterpoint; while she's not on every track, whenever she appears she adds a greater depth to the end results. On "Juhl," her high, from-the-heavens vocals come flowing down over a series of low rumbles and distortion, the two elements perfectly balanced. Many songs feel like collages -- not so much assembled in a random sense, but put together in parts that result in complicated constructions that are less traditional songs and more detailed mood pieces, like the mournful, transcendent build of "Ckaif." The multi-part "Nuj," with its percussion pulses and sudden descending feedback reverb blasts, and the combination of crackling feedback rhythm and swoon combined with Arpin-Henry's chopped-up vocals on "Shivan" are two other fine examples out of many. ~ Ned Raggett