- Immersive tones and melodies.
- The thematic content behind a Daniel Lopatin release can be oblique, but it often seems to hint at grand propositions, or forces beyond our immediate understanding. On the title track of his new EP, however, he seems to focus on something more inward-gazing. "Love In The Time Of Lexapro" begins with a half-celestial, half-corroded chord pattern that lays the melodic groundwork for what follows. A rich chorus of drifting synths pulls the song upward, while deep, sustained bass tones keep it anchored. It's as if the track wants to drift into the ether, but is being held back. This creates a nebulous melancholy, but the tune is also awash in a splendor that seems to offer hope. Lexapro is one of the world's most popular antidepressants, and it could be that Lopatin is presenting the song as a metaphor for its effects. Whatever the case, "Love In The Time Of Lexapro" is poignant and gorgeous.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's rework of "Last Known Image Of A Song," the closing cut from Lopatin's recent Age Of album, takes the opposite tack. Sakamoto pulls apart the creeping tectonic shift and wonky jazz flourishes of the original and spreads them along a glacial vista, as sparse toy-xylophone pings do their best to eke out a melody. It's a stark contrast to the track title's luxurious feel.
Both tracks, though, are dreamscapes of ineffable yearning. The EP's other cuts feel almost like a letdown, though only by degrees. Anxious, fluttering chords plunk out a forlorn melody on "Thank God I'm A Country Girl," giving the effect of a haunted saloon. And even with lyrics like "mood spelled backwards says doom," "Babylon," a country ballad also taken from Age Of, is a sweet finale, its gentle strums guiding us back to Earth.
TracklistA1 Love In The Time Of Lexapro
A2 Last Known Image Of A Song (Ryuichi Sakamoto Rework)
B1 Thank God I'm A Country Girl
B2 Babylon