- "La Demeure" translates as "the residence," and Grischa Lichtenberger's latest album expresses, we're told, "the joy of being withdrawn from economic, temporal or social restraints in the confinement of a home." It's strange to hear such domestic themes associated with music so abstract. The steely IDM bombast of 2012's And IV (Inertia) hardly invited such imagery. Lichtenberger's latest is a cooler and calmer exploration of his world, but it too often slumps into inertness.
La Demeure's best moments hint at the richer and more dynamic album it could have been. The pretty arp filigree of opener "1 b palcamp rm" is ear-catching, and "cl vb 2_v2" combines ghostly hardcore nostalgia with computer-music precision in a way that echoes Lee Gamble. On "keys t," huge, emotive chords struggle free from their IDM chassis, and closer "arct 1" soothes similar glitchy percussion with dull synth pads, as if drawing a veil of sleep over a frazzled brain.
Those two tracks plot the far ends of the album's spectrum; most of the rest occupies a narrow sliver somewhere in the middle. The mulched ring mod textures of "134p78" are intriguing but too enervated to go anywhere. The likes of "verl" have plenty of energy, but it's a frantic and incoherent energy. Often, as on "713 2" or "sf rect," Lichtenberger defaults to smart but affectless somersaults. The likes of Mark Fell have given such meticulous studies a hypnotic allure, but Lichtenberger's tend to feel dry and unlovely.
In this sense, at least, La Demeure is the album it claims to be. Listening to these tracks, it's easy to imagine Lichtenberger locked up in his studio, coffee neglected on the desk, delving ever deeper into his solipsistic pursuits. Of course, what's of interest to an artist doesn't necessarily delight their listeners.
Tracklist01. 1 b palcamp rm
02. sf rect
03. bre 41306
04. mmcr vngr
05. keys t
06. degrid skt
07. 134p78
08. 614 12
09. cl vb 2_v2
10. verl
11. 713 2
12. arct 1