- As half of Metro Area, Morgan Geist always sought to get the most he could out of a drum machine and some chirping synths. What they managed to wring out of that basic combination felt like magic, a barebones maximalism that implied euphoria. Geist's new Storm Queen project with vocalist Damon C. Scott has come closer to capturing that same alchemy than his eponymous solo work, but armed with a coat of vintage house gravel and grain where Metro Area shone with disco glitter.
Second single "It Goes On" manages to improve on the already-stellar "Look Right Through," taking the same grubby bassline and grinding it down a descending path, the sort of glib but infectious melody you've heard countless times but loses none of its considerable impact. Geist as ever takes glee in the drums, moving them from bluntly plastic to hollow and anthemic in a split second, and the simple lyrical conceit is only heightened by the disintegrating and crumbling rhythms in the track's second half. But the most important thing you need to know is that "It Goes On" has one hell of a massive chorus—when the sequencers suddenly shoot up several octaves, Geist gives in to the disco decadence he hasn't indulged in since "Read My Mind." Like the best classic house, it finds infectious uplift by channeling never-ending pain and anguish. "Day after day after day, it goes on," Scott says, singing of his own heartbreak. If the same went for this song, I couldn't see anyone possibly complaining.
Tracklist A It Goes On (Vox)
B It Goes On (Dub)