LUSINE - Sensorimotor

Four years on from the excellent "The Waiting Room", Jeff McIlwain continues his exploration of electronic territory in a coherent and fruitful way with the release of "Sensorimotor". Blending house-pop, IDM and electro, the artist, helped along by his considerable prolificacy, has steered a certain strain of British techno towards house and pop, following a personal and strongly distinctive path nearly two decades on from his debut.

His new album is tinged with house and synth-pop shades, flexing its muscles when needed and drawing on the lightness and candor of a true craftsman. Still collaborating with his wife Sarah and the talented vocalist Vilja Larjosto, McIlwain once again hits the mark with instrumentals of great electro-techno appeal (the clangs of "Slow Motions" are captivating), evocative episodes with an ambient pull (the faint sounds of "Canopy"), while keeping things accessible with pop singles that are, as ever, very catchy and hook-laden (the splendid "Ticking Hands", the warm, enveloping "Just A Cloud").

The fluidity of Lusine's albums, this "Sensorimotor" included, conceals a heterogeneity that is at once calculated and instinctive, where a strong inclination towards balance and measure meets a genuine capacity to move the listener. That sense comes through in the pleasing alternation of moods and sounds, temperatures, melodies and durations. If after the aforementioned "Just A Cloud", airy and razor-sharp synth-pop, we find the electro inflections of "The Level" - all synth progressions and shifting sonic layers - and everything feels perfectly in place, it's a sign that the artist has done work of the very highest order.

Shortly after, in case this might seem like a transitional or merely stopgap album, you'll find the unsettling vocal textures of "Witness" - a track arranged and sung by Benoit Pioulard - which, drifting from one audio channel to the other, mischievously enchant as they unsettle. A track of the highest, most refined quality, a perfect crossing of techno-pop and vocal experimentation. Along this same honeyed trail - just slightly more spiced - come the stop&go moves redolent of British 2step in the sinuous "Won't Forget", followed shortly after by the album's closing run, made up of three instrumentals worthy of the best Gus Gus.

Jeff McIlwain, an artist equally emotional and calculating, shows off all his qualities on a substantial album, polished and just the right length. His exquisite, all-encompassing taste makes the music he produces appealing to a wide range of listeners, giving both pop lovers and fans of more physical electronic music plenty to fully enjoy without compromise.

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02/01/2018