Review Summary: A charming and brief collection of experimental electronic songs
Distant Light / New Darkness is the debut EP from solo electronica artist Seiji who has named his project "The Sun and the Ocean." Myself not being an expert on experimental electronic music, the closest thing I can think of to compare this release to would be Radiohead's Kid A. One of the songs on here is a cover of Dollars & Cents, which is from Radiohead's album Amnesiac, which leads me to think that Seiji was influenced by Radiohead during the making of this EP. Overall the EP has a bright, sort of soothing mood about it, with certain tracks being more energetic than others. This release finds a decent balance between the dance-inducing and upbeat side of electronic music, and the more calm and passive side of electronic music.
The album starts out with a short intro, that really doesn't highlight the creativity that this album contains, and instead kind of falls flat and boring. That's just fine because it goes straight into the next track, Monolog, which is one of the best tracks on this thing. It contains wonderfully soft vocals singing strange and psychedelic lyrics, accompanied by interesting synth and drums. The album follows suit, with certain songs containing vocals and others not. The cover of the Radiohead song, Dollars & Cents, takes a more pleasant spin on an originally dark song.
Most of the songs here are relatively short, most of them coming out to about 2 minutes. Only 2 songs here cross the 3 minute mark, one of them crossing 4 minutes, and the other, being the Radiohead cover, reaching past 5 minutes. The former is a song called I Accidentally Went To A Rave, and the song certainly sounds like the title. It starts out with some very dancy synth and drums, and after about a minute the tempo slows down into a more chilled out section, only to build up into another dance section. The best song on this EP is probably Descend Into The Maelstrom, this song is very relaxed and elegant, featuring Seiji's excellent vocals singing more mind-bending lyrics.
While this album is all in all a very enjoyable experience, there is something that holds it back, even if it's weaknesses are hard to spot. I suppose one could criticize this album on being too samey, but it really makes up for that with it's experimental nature. I think the real thing holding this album back is a mix between the muddy production, and it's lack of memorable songs. Every song here seems to follow the same kind of tired formula, even if Seiji does execute that formula quite nicely. By the end of the album you're just kind of wondering how it ended up being so forgettable. Still, for what this EP is, it's really a delectable experience.
Pros
- Sweet, cheerful, and just delightful music
- Experimentation
- Not drawn out enough to get on your nerves
Cons
- Bland and formulaic at times
- Poor production
Overall rating: 3.7/5
