Review Summary: A warm, playful brand of electro.
Wicklow-based Irish producer Jonny Dillon has been dreaming up wistful, childlike melodies for almost a decade now. His distinct style, recalling the sincerity of early Aphex Twin releases and the sub-aqua bubbles of Drexciya, centres on a warm, playful brand of electro. On this 2012 LP release, the mood ranges from nostalgia to exuberance, light amusement to deep wonder, but the endearing honesty that permeates the album remains constant throughout.
‘Public Service Announcement’ opens amid a fuzz of radio static and a clutter of straying voices before a gorgeous, elastic bassline bounces enters the fray, seeming to lurch heavily at times while enhancing the giddy synth interplay and inducing the feeling of butterflies. ‘Talking At Right Angles’ has a more driving rhythm. Squelchy, melodic acid lines melt in and out before some equally pleasing synths join in the mix. There’s also a lonely sounding pad that lurks in the background from time to time offering a poignant contrast to the carefree tone established by Dillon's 303.
‘I Seen You Through A Crowd’ is a slab of deep, analogue magic. The whole track is cloaked in an eerie, mysterious fog redolent of a Legoweltian haze. Twinkling, otherworldly synths rain down before a broken acid bass beams forth its pulsing, hypnotic laser. This must be what the fairies rave to! Meanwhile, ‘A World Of Moving And Connected Parts’ is on a decidedly livelier bent. One aquatic synth keeps time as a mischievous companion seems to be play hide and seek with an impish bassline. ‘Stepping Out’ is a beautiful track. A tight, modulated bassline plods along while the synths range from a twee, marching variety to the fluttery, dizzy type. ‘Jolly Dillon (Happy Autumn Drinking With Friends)’ starts with a dreamy hum. Later, excitable synths chase each other around playfully, accurately mimicking that woozy feeling produced by a day spent carousing with your buddies.
‘Evening Coming Down, On A Hill Above The Town’ is quietly ecstatic. Luscious synths float to and fro over a warm, inviting, low drone. Birds audibly chirp in the background lending the track a quaint, rustic tone. Blissful stuff. ‘Rocky Valley’ is fast-paced and excitable, its high, naive melodies seeming to almost ache with anticipation as a satisfying bass bounces about seeming almost to rebound off itself. ‘Vowel Sounds’ is based on a melodic acid line that’s twanged rhythmically as if it were a funk guitar. Other more atonal 303 licks provide a counterpoint, all underlined with driving percussion. ‘Suantrai Suaimhneach’ rounds off the release by bringing us back to earth gently. A shy, fuzzy synth staggers in lonesomely before being helped along by a soothing array of companions. There’s a beautiful, three tone, wide-eyed pad in the background that establishes the wistful mood, swaying along to the whirr of the various chimes and bleeps.
At the heart of Dillon’s futuristic conceptions, there’s something disarmingly homely and pastoral – often the track names and accompanying album art allude to this theme. It’s this easy, natural sentiment, seemingly at odds with the cold, electronic modulations on offer, along with the fresh, rich synth harmonies he makes sound so effortless, that establishes his hard-earned niche in the visionary realms of electro.
