- Released at the same time as his masterful 12-inch for Dial, Lawrence's Divided EP can't help but suffer in comparison. Whereas "Miles" sounded weirdly buoyant despite its obvious connection to Peter Kersten's past melancholia, Divided is a retread—the sound of a producer ploughing fields long past the point of fertility.
Kersten has relentlessly stuck to the same sound palette for nearly a decade now, and "Divided" sounds like it. Dubby in all the right places with a twinkling melody that drops in near the finale, we've heard this tune before from the producer. It's signature Lawrence, and it's a signature disappointment reminiscent of the same issues that plagued the middling Sten album from earlier this year.
Similarly, "Forever Anna" falls into the crate of Lawrence songs that privilege melody over rhythm, taking advantage of the pomp of the strings that unveil its melody. It's chin-up sadness, and another track that treads water stylistically. "Blow-Up," meanwhile, is hyper-melodic, but its drum programming is curious, trading in nods to deep house for IDM plink. It sounds the least like the Kersten of the past, but in this case it's not a good or bad thing. It's just something we've heard before somewhere else which—like the other two tracks here—is exactly the problem. Divided is fine. Good, even. But what's the point here?
Tracklist A Divided
B1 Anna Forever
B2 Blow-Up