It feels like electronic beats have left the avant-garde of bass music—if they ever held that position. Turning as many knobs as you can is not automatically the shit any more.

Granted, Lapalux goes further than testing the limits of his laptop. Sedated synths, rain drops, even a timid saxophone greet us on ’102 Hours of Introductions’, the first track of the EP. Then comes Lapalux himself, adding a vocal slice thin as the ice that barely came, barely went on the Thames this year. And, finally, the expected jittery and unpredictable rhythm that usually dresses his loops for success.

What can we make of that? The opener’s chopped and stretched samples with live instruments suggest something deliberate, and so disassembled that we can’t help but be curious. ‘Moments’, which features PY on vocals, builds in the same way. Only here we get a sense of why he’s on Brainfeeder: the Eskmo-like screws and bolts, and the shattering bass at the end.

When You’re Gone has a foundation of lectronic beats that, five years ago, were groundbreaking. More melodic consistency may have pushed it more firmly in the direction of electronic pop—another ventured, but often successful field. Then again, we could have had a Geotic-like ambience on our hands, judging by the peaceful closer ‘Face Down, Eyes Shut’.

And the middle way isn’t all bad, either: ‘Yellow 90′s’ has the vocoders, the MPC work, the synths that are so typical, but so effective.

Sven Hultberg Carlsson

Lapalux: Yellow 90's

Lapalux: Gutter Glitter

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Buy When You’re Gone