[Review] Lone- Galaxy Garden [Published in Now Then Issue 50 May 2012]

Why do all Blink 182 songs sound the same? Why did michael jackson keep banging on about the colours black and white? Why in the name of all that is good in the world do people keep listening to Skrillex?

Its all about artists ‘doing a Glenn Miller’ and finding their sound. 

You can spot a Lone track a mile off. Any time you drift off and start to imagine a nightclub themed bonus stage on Ecco the dolphin, or start seeing colours like aquamarine or fuschia you’re most likely listening to Lone. Either that or you ate the ‘funny’ fruit pastille your flat mate left on his windowsill when he moved out. 

Lone’s use of scattered chords and notes akin to that of an autistic child playing Chopin, are all his own. His Leitmotif if you will. Like the 9th chord progression at the end of a blues song, or when Switch has to put his name in every bloody remix he does because he managed to find a sample that sounded vaguely like his moniker.

I’m a massive advocate of Lone’s signature sonics, so when I say all his songs sound the same it’s both informed and perfectly acceptable. It’s the same principal as me getting away with talking Patois on account of my ex girlfriend being black.

You know where you stand with Lone. You know it’s going to sound like someone playing a  Mega Drive at a warehouse party.

Like freshly washed bed sheets, his new offering is suitably familiar and yet different enough to pique interest.

The two collaborations with Sepalcure’s Machinedrum are stand out efforts. The output of both artists seemingly made for partnership, with tracks packed to the gills with big 808’s, lush pads and haunted vocals.

Floaty, early 90’s rave culture is the order of the day for tracks like Raindance and the absurdly good Crystal Caverns 1991 and everything else is smattered with a healthy doses of Boards Of Canada and Chicago house.

Frenetic yet perfectly under control. Verging on intense but always subdued and above all produced and mastered to the brink of perfection. 

This album is most definitely a progression from previous efforts, just not in the grandiose way you’d expect from a fifth album.

So fixed is Lone in the idea of his own sound, he can obsess on fine tuning it to make sure it will always stay familiar.