Lei Line Eon - Iglooghost: Review

Iglooghost

is the experimental electronic project of British musician Seamus Malliagh that first drew attention with the Chinese Nu Year EP released on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder records. The debut Iglooghost alhum was released to widespread critical acclaim in 2017 but the project has continued to be busy since then. In 2018 Seamus released a pair of EP's that expanded the Iglooghost discography and lore, and in 2019 he teamed up with Kai Whiston and BABii for a collaborative project. 

Review By Lav:

The sounds of Iglooghost music were absolutely insane for 2015. Looking back on the explosion of hyper pop it is clear how much Iglooghost's fusion of drum and bass with jittery electronica helped set the genre in motion, even though he doesn't necessarily fit in perfectly with the label. I've been enjoying just about everything released under the project since as well, Neo Was Bloom was a great debut, the Steel Mogu EP was a great cohesive set of bangers and even his collaborative album XYZ had some big highlights despite being inconsistent. So even though the singles for this record projected a very new sonic direction I was excited to see what was in store and when all is said and done I think everything that made his music enjoyable in the past turns up somewhere on Lei Line Eon. 

The record gets off to a little bit of a shaky start but really hits its stride in the middle so lets run through a few of its early misses. Sylph Fossil was released as a single and I've had a lot of time to try and make heads or tails of it. The whispered vocals certainly take some getting used to and I'm not sure they match the songs instrumental at all particularly when it is clearly trying to hit hard. The little angelic samples hanging over everything do sound really nice and there are compelling bells and whistles throughout but the core of the song is questionable. Light Gutter is an interesting track that has some legitimately dreamy electronic passages with a constant barrage of vocals and instrumentation. The big issue with the track are the incredibly deflating passages where all the instrumentation drops out and squelching strings phase in, It's such an abrupt change of pace to a far less interesting sound that it sort of kneecaps how good the track could have been. The only song on the back end I didn't particularly enjoy was Soil Bolt. It starts off with a super distant passage that has just enough instrumentation to feel occupied but not enough for its shrill sounds to feel dissonant. It trades that out for driving drums but abandons them really quickly and while I do like the wailing sirens and watery drums in the last minute they feel way too fleeting. The sounds are good on the track but the composition just isn't there. 

While the first half of the record isn't the strongest the actual start of the album is pretty good with both of the first two tracks being positive moments. Eoe is quite an interesting opener that features sound interplay between violin and manic splashes of out of this world synths. It's an interesting opener that is bright and pretty even on its quieter side. Pure Grey Circle is a bit more familiar for Iglooghost fans with jittery electronics, explosive drums and a variety of vocal performances forming an experimental electronic banger. It has a steady decline at the end that would feel off in a conventional EDM track but this is anything but conventional. The closing track Yellow Umbra is one of my favorite tracks on the entire album. It feels like a synthesis of everything the record has to offer which is awesome as a finale. It starts off like a classic Iglooghost sound with a busy mix of surreal sounds before transitioning into what may be my favorite quieter passage on the entire record.  The end of the song features breathy vocals and whipping drums that I absolutely love, its a whirlwind I love getting thrown into. 

The best part of the record is tracks 5-8 where Igloo flexes some impressive versatility without missing a beat. Big Protector is one of the more abstract cuts compositionally that flies through different sonic passages with only the strings guiding it through. The second half has some unpredictable bass drops that I totally love and even with the song being so formless it never feels wandering, making for a great moment. UI Birth was next and it features frequent Iglooghost collaborator BABii. As usual she isn't doing anything crazy with her vocals but more serving as a pretty foundation for all the insane sonic manipulations going on around her. The track refuses to settle and there's never more than a few seconds without a loud of incredibly distorted sound crashing into the mix and shaking things up. It lacks sonic consistency throughout but has enough great features to be a major highlight regardless. 

Zones U Can't See reminds me a ton of the Clear Tamei EP as a bright, punchy burst of electronica that just bounces off the walls throughout. From sliding synths to heavily manipulated vocals the whole mix is full of jarring sounds that somehow come together to form something really engaging and almost catchy. Amu was released as a single last year and I still like it quite a bit. It has some of the most versatile and enjoyable percussion I've ever heard on an Iglooghost track and once the childish vocals grew on me a bit I totally fell in love with them. The whole thing sounds like afuturistic dystopian lullaby and I'm all over it. 

Previous Iglooghost records were the very definition of immediate, but Lei Line Eon is much more of a grower. I knew from the singles that the records was going to be worth dissecting and a number of these songs grew on me over the past week. Even though there were a few tracks whose flaws only became clearer to me there is much to love across the tracklist and I think it nails important moments on the closer and opener. I'm not sure what I would hope for Iglooghost to do next as a fan, but I trust that whatever direction the project goes it it will bring with it a unique sonic experience with a focus on compelling details, just like Lei Line Eon. 7/10

Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:

I have mixed feelings about this cover. The color palette and design is nice an the top design that cuts off the symmetry adds a cool layering effect. The base design could be darker and I feel like this would be really nice to view as a vinyl cover or poster but not on a cell phone because there is too much detail lost on the small scale. 7/10

For more electronica check out my review of Bicep's Isles here