Com Truise – Galactic Melt 8.3

                Com Truise arrived. It took a while. Various remixes and a few side projects later he released his full length debut album. After only short time from his more lo-fi (and chillwave influenced “Cyanide Sisters EP) he’s found his own sound. Most chillwavers did. Seth Haley works with a down-tempo, funky version of Boards of Canada. Oddly nobody else came up with this idea. No worries though, the album is an absolute treat for the ears.

                If swag, that unknowable force, needed its own soundtrack, Galactic Melt would be that soundtrack. Right from the first track “Terminal” you can feel the pulse of the music. Seth is 80s synth heavy but the attention to detail is miles beyond what I usually hear. As the track progresses I feel the wind down, thinking I’m about to get shocked with a gigantic beat. 

                That’s the rest of album. By keeping the tempos slow, he literally blows you away with the sound. If things were sped up it would ruin the spaciousness of the songs. From “VHS Sex” to “Futureworld” there are multiple ideas: the funkiness, the melody, and the sounds reaching up into the sky. 

                “Brokendate” is easily my favorite. When I first heard this, I thought to myself: wow. I want to play this on an enormous sound system. Something I don’t have (excluding headphones). Listening to this I think how perfectly timed this release was, right in time to make it onto a summer jam MIX CD. Yeah, it is that tremendous. Com Truise is smart enough to pace it right too, allowing for a few quieter moments to focus on the muscularity of the sound. 

                Galactic Melt is uniformly good. Seth manages to keep the quality up throughout the whole release. Even the sound is kept consistent; he remains intensely focused on maintaining the mood. Really I’m pretty impressed with the album. There isn’t a dull moment.

Com Truise – Fairlight 7.5

                “Fairlight” is a sweet teaser EP for Com Truise’s release on Ghostly International. It makes sense that his slow-moving funk would find a home there. This will help those countless individuals who have been following his steady rise. He’s fairly prolific and released under the moniker “Airliner” earlier this year. 

                I like how he forms his own specific sound. Considering all the other groups who specialize in a 80s sound, that’s no mean feat. Most groups tend to work on obscuring the melodies in a haze. Com Truise realizes his work functions better with full light shining down on it. 

                All the songs show the natural progression towards that full-length album (Galactic Melt) out on July 5^th. Each one has its own charm. I like how the drums hit on “Fairlight” and the amount of detail he shows in the slow evolution of the song. On “Beta” you’re treated to more low-end, sprawling synths. That pales in comparison with the finale. 

                Endings are important. “Polyhurt” ends the EP on a high note. The low-slung quality of the song wins me over. He creates a strong structure. By taking his time with the hits and allowing for a slow build, he shows off the many fruits of his approach. Slower tempos allow for the listener to really enjoy the little flourishes he puts into his work, whether it is the sunny flourishes or riffing off of the theme. In case that wasn’t enough, the very end of the song has a blissed out outro reminiscent of an early Boards of Canada track.

                Obviously I’m looking forward to Ghostly International bringing out his full length for the summer. I haven’t paid attention to that label for a while, perhaps it is time I start doing it again.