John Frusciante
Letur-Lefr

Release Date: 2012 | Tracklist

In the same way that misery searches for company, stagnation searches for John Frusciante. The only difference being that the latter have never met. Producing no less than four albums in 2004 and numerous others before and since, you can’t help but get the feeling that there isn’t a day in the life of John Frusciante where an idea isn’t spawned, experimented with, or recorded. His last heavy foray into electronic music; 2001’s ‘To Record Only Water for Ten Days’, was a triumph. Consisting primarily of simple synthesiser beats infused with mellow guitar fills and instrumentals, it was a genre spanning experiment which showed his vision and drive to keep evolving. Advertised as the precursor to full length album ‘PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone’, ‘Letur-Lefr’ continues Frusciante’s trend of evolving and experimenting, and adopts a sound that the man himself describes as ‘Progressive Synth Pop’.

By his own admission, John Frusciante has spent a lot of time over the past five years broadening his horizons and honing in on genres that he’s previously explored but “had no idea how to execute”. With ‘Letur-Lefr’, he finally combines genres in a way he had hoped to for so long, and he’s having a great time in the process. Album artwork is often ambiguous, but the carefree finger painted style mirrors the delight he expresses at being able to “to focus exclusively on music for music’s sake”. ‘Letur-Lefr’ was built with enjoyment at its core, and it shows.

Although the contribution of guitar work on ‘Letur-Lefr’ is minimalistic, it still plays a vital role. Rather than driving the songs forward, it stays in the background and serves to add layers to the songs, most notably on opening track ‘In Your Eyes’. The gorgeous rippling undertones it provides are not only a welcome reminder that this is not a complete departure from Frusciante’s signature sound, but also help to compliment and accentuate the effectiveness of the synth beats. The most powerful and memorable moments on the record can be attributed to the combination of vocals (be it rapped, sang, or yelled), and bright synth beats. ‘909 Day’ features vocal samples and rapping, but it’s the upbeat tune and almost angelic vocals that see the song out that make it a highlight. A similar effect is felt in closing track ‘In My Light’, where a combination of rough Frusciante yells are juxtaposed with a peaceful fading outro that brings the EP to a fitting close.

The biggest disappointment with ‘Letur-Lefr’ is arguably the biggest compliment you could pay it too, it feels too short. A second instrumental to compliment ‘Glowe’, or another experimental track in the ilk of ‘909 Day’ would certainly have been welcome. Thankfully however, Frusciante seems keen to run with his new electronic obsession for much longer, as full length ‘PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone’ is likely to go hand in hand with this release. With ‘Letur-Lefr’, John Frusciante wholeheartedly embraces the fruits of his labours after a lengthy learning curve into the world of synth and electronic music, and whets our appetite with an excellent Extended Play.

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3.7 great

Rank: #0 for 2012