On November 9th Lapalux released his most recent EP,  ABOVE_BETWEEN_BELOW, which came in a cassette format (and digital on Spotify). Yes ya’ll, a cassette tape, you can be cool now too. Not gonna lie this one was a bit of a surprise, but I digress. The EP is a “journey through life, death, and the afterlife, split into three movements: ABOVE, BETWEEN and BELOW.“ A quick look into the press release will tell us that, “The process of making the record lends itself to the idea of a never-ending cycle and a slowly-developing loop, much akin to the feeling of what it is to be alive, to die, and the afterlife.”

Deep indeed. His last album, Ruinism, picked apart nature of consciousness while the album before that, Lustmore, focused on life and death and included a theatrical performance art-piece, titled “Depart,” that took place in a graveyard. A rather morbid pattern begins to emerge but things are not what they sound like on paper (umm, on the digital screen). Lapalux’s music is more about embracing the mortality and emptiness of it all, it seems; while at times it may be dark and slow it is often melodic and cognizant.

Now that the context is set, let’s enter the live show.

Lapalux uses visuals to build an environment in the room. These visuals, at times shining directly through him, made Stuart one with the art. Weird psychedelic shapes, body morphs, squids swimming in blue sliver, and then there are the things you’d only see through a microscope in a petri dish. If you were high at this show, this would have been a unique trip. “Fuck yeah!!!” someone violently shouts behind me, following it up by a spew of similarly flattering compliments. This small, but involved and energetic crowd was all in. At the end of the night, the show took an inevitable turn into a mini rave, if only for a track or two. After a quick break, Lapalux came out on stage for an encore and shared “some new shit” he is working on, a teaser of what’s to come, leaving the crowd on a high note.

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Known for breaking down sounds and putting them back together, accompanied by glitchy vocals – his or someone else’s – Howard recreated an unexpectedly different experience for his fans at the Shine Nightclub.

What was originally a rendition of a one-hit wonder, Khia’s song “My Neck, My Back (Lick It)”, Lapalux extended and stretched Khia’s voice, making lyrics like “shake your body, don’t stop, don’t miss” become, in a sense, instrumental sounds. “Guuurl”, one of the tracks off Nostalchic, played live, is infused with persuasive undertones that highlight the hypnotic synth registers and give extra aural kicks to the song that may appear as the most mainstream track on the record.

“Straight Over My Head”, following an R&B-inflected deep house opening, offered a rhythmic beat that mined finger snaps and drums that pitter-patter. But with the first beats of “Without You,” the mood of the performance directed itself towards tranquillity.

“Without You” is a robust yet melancholic track; it finds a way to harness a minimal, but complicated landscape, held together by a twinkling shake of percussion. It stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of Lapalux’s set, grinding things down to a solemn halt. The audience seemed to love every bit of it, moving along with Howard to every bit, bobbing their heads, snapping their fingers.

“I keep moments of you…I remember”

Known for being an accessible producer, this past Tuesday, Lapalux brought a more atmospheric set to the Vancouver audience, rich and transcendent at the same time.

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