Makeness - Loud Patterns

Makeness is a relatively new musical endeavor by producer Kyle Molleson, who's dropped a few singles and EPs in the last few years. Loud Patterns is his first proper album, and it's generally quite well done. He skirts the edges of techno and indie pop, and there's a solid dancefloor sensibility to many of the songs, but they also feature a lot of fuzzed out vocals and instrumentation. Call it Detroit chillwave. At times the singing takes center stage, but in other places Molleson lets the music speak for itself.

In fact, a good chunk of the album is just grooves. Some tend more towards an introspective approach, subdued and overlaid with Molleson's breathy voice, which others go big on the beats. In the former group are songs like 'Day Old Death' (which I can't stop calling 'Day Old Bread' for some reason); it has that particular quality of sounding like being in the room next to the dancefloor, with the beats and bass coming through the wall. 'Our Embrace' has a shimmering ping-pong style, a futuristic nostalgia, like being in a 21st remake of a 1980s classic. 'Stepping Out of Sync' goes a little heavy on the falsetto in places, but mostly satisfies, and stands at the halfway point between the two groups. In the latter category are tracks like 'Rough Moss', which finds a bass-heavy rhythm and sticks with it through a wacky series of electronic spaz outs, and '14 Drops'; it's like rolling around the inside of an industrial chemical barrel, in a good way.

One of the real highlights of the album is 'Who Am I to Follow Love', a moody piece of R&B-flavored downtempo delight. The guest vocals from Babeheaven’s Nancy Andersen are exquisite, and pair wonderfully with Molleson in the choruses. Of everything in the set, it sticks in my head the most, and nothing else even comes close. But most of the songs are tightly clustered in the area of safe dance music bolstered by an occasional moment of weirdness. After listening to this album many times and thinking about it on and off for a while, I'd say the closest match would be Cut Copy, with their relentless, sometimes cloying electro pop.

Closing track 'Motorcycle Idling' is just that, the sound of a motorcycle engine fed through layers of distortion. It's eminently skippable, completely out of place, and a poor finish to an otherwise good set. Ignore that misstep and you'll be quite happy. There's a sense of freewheeling fun to most of the music here, a willingness to blend the strange and the familiar. If you like your electronic music poppy with a dash of experimentation, Loud Patterns will charm you.