The latest release from American duo/collective C’mon Tigre continues their sprawling collection of adventures that seems to try and fuse the dancefloor with more abstract imagery and then diffuse the results through a series transcontinental mirrors to attain an album that is interestingly awkward yet still danceable.
The thirteen tracks collected here contain diverse vocal stylings that are put through a whole raft of effects while surrounded by synth drones, strange waverings and head on-beats that are oddly manic and disorientating.
Album opener “Enter” has the most straightforward beat, but the voice is shaken and distorted to a dizzying effect. Whether it is a comment on how we communicate in the modern age, I don’t know; but it continues similarly in to “The Beautiful Glitch” and really the title says it all — the voice is pulled and stretched while an oddly moving descending synth line and a slinky trip-hopesque beat try unsuccessfully to maintain order. It is as if the pieces don’t quite fit; but with time and patience, it will start to make sense and you will realise that C’mon Tigre know more about you than you do.
There is an Eastern groove rather affecting vocal loop and scuffling beat to “Vanta”, and with its fiddle solo and vibraphone they are hedging all bets, its unusual melting-pot collision carrying dancefloor weight and intrigue. It is all about pushing preconceptions of what constitutes a group and how to construct an album that keeps listeners engaged. Soulful Prince-like vocals are merged with hysterical rap and dirty synths on “Driver Idle”, while “Nana” is a drifting call and response piece with an African vibe.
There seems to be a form of progression through the album, choices making more sense with further listens. Lumina is definitely an album that needs to be lived with, but the charm and abundance of ideas is what keeps the listener engaged. “Both Sides Of The Moon” is a Gotts Street Park cover that is distorted and mangled, its jittery rhythm and spare guitar welded to a gloopy, glitchy vocal, giving the impression of two unequal rhythmic devices being fused. The feeling is of something new trying to burst out like the creature in Alien; something as yet unconstrained.
“Riad” links repetitive post-rock guitar and a trip-hop beat, background strings soothing the tension with subtle variations in tone and volume. Often the battle between elements is such that as one drops away, and you realise that something else was lurking in the hedgerows just waiting for an opportunity to briefly shine. So towards the end distorted Portuguese vocals and blasted beats are tied with a sci-fi synth drama on “Ceiling Drip Gospel”, while dancefloor synths, jazz drumming and nylon guitar fight for supremacy on “If We Were Here Technically”.
The juxtaposition of East and West, the dismantling and re-imagining of myriad vocal stylings, the jittery, obsessive beats and the textural appropriation of whatever instruments they can lay their hands on means that Lumina is a work of great complexity, but is actually really easy to listen to once you adjust. There aren’t many people out there undertaking this kind of alchemy, so grab it while you can.
-Mr Olivetti-
