Esoteric Lounge Music Now (Vinyl)

Pushing the paranoid torch songs of their previous album into even more liminal and spaced out territory, the song side of proceedings is stronger than ever, with the epic, yearning melted power ballad of “Haunted Hearts”; a gorgeous slo-mo cover of hi-nrg pop(pers) banger “Self Control”; and the chopped up rhythms of “A Lover’s Theory Of Value”, musically located somewhere between blunted trip-hop and Julee Cruise. Meanwhile, a track such as “Vaseline Lens” calls back to the elegiac comedown laments found on the second side of Ruth’s debut album. The FX-blasted reeds of Mary Hanson Scott not only perfectly underpin Ruth’s seductive croon, but provide a cloudlike ambient sound bed for the instrumental pieces that tie the sequencing together, and help make this a truly emotionally engaging journey from beginning to end. Includes guest appearances from Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher, and Maria Elena from Special Interest.