#r&s recordss

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Lakker: Época (R&S)

With their latest full-length collaboration, electronic duo Lakker continue their exciting trajectory away from the dance music culture that perhaps has inspired them but rarely defined them; yet again they’ve proven that making lateral movements into more exciting sonic territory can be its own rich reward. Their latest for R&S may still find them making home with the venerable label that gave Aphex Twin his start in the early 90s, but Epoca moves even further away from the dancefloor. As its title may suggest, Epoca is tinged with Spanish flair, and the duo’s arrangements have begun to include more acoustic instruments as well as their own vocals. Ian McDonnell’s most recent Eomac solo album from last year included his own voice in the form of a primal scream, but Epoca has more hushed and melodic contributions while a highly detailed, sonically rich palette of sounds swirls around them. Opening cut “Shoulder to the Bat” sets Epoca apart immediately with its reverberated vocal and detuned piano strings, a signal to listeners that regardless of how many twists and turns Lakker’s sound has taken over time, this will be something altogether different. The vocals offer a stark contrast to the female vocalisations found on their fine 2015 album Tundra (though collaborator Eileen Carpio still contributes), but their levels in the mix feel in harmony with the rest of the music rather than dominating it. This is a relief for someone like me for whom Lakker’s expert arrangements brim with details and nuance; the vocals are a new cherry buried inside rather than a gesture toward formula.

Época by Lakker

There is perhaps the temptation to perceive Epoca as more accessible than the duo’s industrial atmospheres found on their 2016 maxi-EP Struggle & Emerge, but I find Epoca to be even more beguiling. Its inclusion of plucked piano strings, guitar, violin, and bodhrán nestled within complex rhythmic arrangements and electronics cements their position in a different league from many of their peers. Another refreshing quality of Epoca is actually its brevity: at 37 minutes, it’s a much shorter listen from start to finish than many of the longer sprawls that digital and streaming formats allow artists to explore, unlimited by the contained formats of physical media. In its concision, Epoca feels focused, deliberate, and controlled. In contrast to the hushed tension of tracks like “Shoulder to the Bat,” the duo explore more rhythmic and visceral terrain with tracks like “100 Bar” and “Nest.” The way that tracks flow into each other in sequence recalls the deliberate pacing of Struggle & Emerge, feeling like an almost proper narrative arc. While proper lyrical vocals are only present on a few tracks, the human element permeates Epoca, particularly the hand claps and digeridoo-esque undulations of “Murmuration.” But for all of Epoca’s embrace of acoustic elements, it ends with an electronic bang. “Discourage It All” is built around a rhythmic blast of noise, feedback swirling overhead while vocals fill in the spaces between. It’s the sound of it all falling apart, a rebuke of convention and a lack of resolution. Instead it ends as unpredictably as it started, reaffirming the duo’s strength for keeping listeners on our toes and exploring new ground. Recommended listening.

Buy it: Bandcamp