Reading into Lone’s “Reality Testing”

by Eric Evans

Musical innovation often comes from within: the artist juxtaposes his or her influences to create something new, something greater than the sum of the parts. Frank Zappa fused blues, doo-wop, and the 20th century classical of Webern and Varése to craft a singular career in rock; Roxy Music interwove glam rock and disco to create the palette that ushered in New Wave.

On a smaller scale, artists in any particular genre sometimes fold in elements of another style to advance their own sound. It’s on this level that Reality Testing, the new album by Matt Cutler, aka Lone, operates. House beats and hip-hop aren’t exactly stylistic opposites—both claim urban roots, both encourage the shaking of one’s booty—but like any good chef, Lone understands that it’s the ratios and interaction between flavors that make the dish, and to belabor the metaphor many of these tracks are lip-smackingly good.

The lush synth waves of opener “First Born Seconds” wash over you and establish a calm. The widescreen sweep of the sound recalls the opening montage in Vangelis’ Blade Runner score, taking its time serving as a palate cleanser and baseline reset for the listener. You are now primed to accept what follows, which for much of the album resembles it surprisingly little. The piano loop riff of “Restless City” segues into the skip beat of “Meeker Warm Energy” and the mid-tempo groove has you.

“2 is 8” manages to wink at both the pre-funk jazz of the mid-‘60s and the upbeat pop stylings of Saint Etienne before shifting into percussionless synth chords, quietly merging with the nightclub swing of “Airglow Fires”, which both subverts and celebrates house tropes. By the time the set culminates with the mellow beats and distant chorus of “Cutched Under” it’s clear that Lone designed the album not just as a bunch of tracks that happened to have been produced at the same time but as an experience. It’s organic, it flows.

There are melodies here hovering above the beats, which occasionally quiet down to a shuffle then resume their drive. Like the best synth-hop from the Brainfeeder crew, Lone’s music keeps you guessing while it keeps you moving. By the time you hit the arpeggiated bells of “Jaded” and the quiet seeps back in, you’re hooked. This is superior, accomplished work: confident tracks which recall their source material but remain fully contemporary and cohere as an album besides. There’s little doubt Reality Testing will stand up as a barometer of where electronic music is in 2014 and if you’re looking for a solid source of summer jams, here you go.

Release date: June 17, 2014