Posted by One thing that is always impressive about Iglooghost is his ideas. His music if literally dripping in them. Some work, some don’t, but you can’t say the music is boring. Listening to his new album ‘Lei Line Eon’ it’s hard to believe it was made by the same artist who released the ‘Twenteen’ mixtape in 2014 or ‘Chinese Nu Yr’ on Activia Benz in 2015.
Iglooghost was a teen laptop-music prodigy who created a world for his music. A post-clubbing version of The Faraway Tree for the Soulseek generation. The ideas, and beats, came fast and everything was doused with so much neon it made you hurt. It wasn’t until his 2017 album, ‘Neō Wax Bloom’, for Brainfeeder, that things really started to take off and his dayglo wonderland started to feel real. This was followed up with 2019’s ‘XYZ’ with BABii and Kai Whiston. This was a slight departure in sound, but the ideas where still very much there.
On his fifth album in eight years we are seeing another side to Iglooghost. Part of this is that he isn’t a teenage bedroom producer anymore. has grown up musically, and personally, and has pushed himself, as well as the listener. Also, a year in lockdown drastically changes your world view. The productions aren’t as in your face, but they are built around the same charming fever that made his music such a delight in the first place. The music is now laced with melancholy, which we all have whether we admit it or now, that adds another texture.
This is typified with the album opener. ‘Eœ (Disk•Initiate)’. Instead of an explosion of sound, ‘Lei Line Eon’ kicks off with delicate strings. Under these subtle melodies synths fly about like fairies creating a sense of pastoral tranquillity but also a feeling that it could all kick off, descending into wonky laptop music maelstroms. This the ideal way to open the album. It shows that this isn’t the same Iglooghost we are used to, but there should be enough to keep older heads engaged while acting as an introduction to new listeners.
‘Zones U Can’t See’ feels like vintage Iglooghost. The beats are wonky. Skewed synths zoom around, with shouty childlike vocals. It isn’t as unbalanced as his previous work, but it is the most hectic track on the album. The standout track is ‘UI Birth’ featuring BABii. This is another reserved track. Again, strings permeate the deep basslines skittering beats BABii’s clearly work well with Iglooghost’s music, the ‘XYZ’ project proved this, but here they juxtapose the rampant productions in a way that gives not only the track, but the album, a lift to something sublime.
I dislike the term mature when describing musical outputs. It does a disservice to previous albums, but there is a maturity to this album. It just sounds, for want of a better term, grown up. Yes, there are the ricochet beats on ‘Pure Grey Cycle’ and ‘Sylph Fossil’ is reminiscent to ‘Neō Wax Bloom’, but it is more restrained.
‘Lei Line Eon’ is not the album I thought it would be. It doesn’t feel like it was made at three in the morning after consuming carbonated drinks and strawberry bootlaces all day. Instead ‘Lei Line Eon’ is a balanced album that shows an artist reaching the peak of his creative powers. The cartoon-ish vocals are still there, but Iglooghost isn’t trying to show off, or impress us, with his skills. Instead, he has created his most inventive, personal, and tender album to date.
8/10
Words: Nick Roseblade
– – –
– – –
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.