Lance Neptune
Animal Eclipse
Reviewed by: Ziggy Merritt
When reviewing electronic albums I always have to keep in mind that, in part, I don’t know what I’m talking about. My lack of experience in the construction and layering of each specific texture is only covered up by a smattering of adjectives. The rating of the album and of the tracks contained within is therefore a matter of taste. I listen for sounds that work well placed against each other or an instrumentation that might, at its worst, verge on the chaotic, yet find balance amidst a sea of digital noise. The latest EP out from Lance Neptune, Animal Eclipse, shows that there is both balance and beauty and that any superlative adjectives associated with its creation are well-deserved.
The six tracks that make up Animal Eclipse do their best to experiment with a range of percussion that feels foreign yet inviting. Tracks like “Golden Inferno” and “N4” are accented by cyclical vocal mantras that paired alongside this percussive element invite favorable comparisons to the brand of trip-hop artists such as Flying Lotus and Thundercat have made their careers with. Mixed with influences ranging from the ambient to the IDM, there’s hardly a moment where the album is content to be boxed in with any classifier.
“Janus”, released just a few months prior, remains one of the clear standouts. Punchy and crystalline synth lines are both danceable and vividly rendered against the bubbling organic background and tribal percussion. Eclipse’s dalliance with subtlety is well-constructed in the album’s closer “White Eclipse.” Textures reminiscent of a wet and vibrant rainforest float atop an atmospheric hum that rises and falls; more than fitting given the title. Though at times it feels unfocused, the beauty in this track and the EP is in its ability to plant the listener in someplace distant, disjointed, and wild.
Rating: Bad-Ass
