Clarian - Is There Light At The End EP

Over the course of its three tracks, Is There Light At The End plays out like a patchwork of emotions and events experienced over the summer months. Clarian translates this collage of experiences onto record by borrowing from a variety of sonic palettes, with each track being substantially different from the other. Although this leads to a record somewhat lacking in coherence, Clarian invites the listener to join him on a guided tour of summer nostalgia and to allow their imaginations to wander to times either had or times longed for. And therefore on Is There Light At The End one will find techno for example juxtaposed against blissed-out chillwave. Title track and opener "Is There Light At The End" is a captivating 6am techno track that is packed with looping beats and manipulated vocals that instantly recalls the work of Axel Willner under his moniker The Field. And like Willner’s work, Clarian’s opening statement is as propulsive but also as gorgeously dense and texturally astute.

Lead single "Mirror of The Sun" on the other hand dabbles in calypso-tinged disco. With its initial soft, alluring groove, the track builds around Jess Cardinal’s whispered, sensual vocal. And as it accelerates with a flurry of wood percussion and disco-inspired guitar grooves, her calls of “first touch, heavenly rush” beguile and titillate the listener. Excitement surges as the track reaches its zenith, capturing the sensory overload that would come with, for example, a summer romance, or hurtling around Monaco in a F1 car.

The E.P ends with "Promethean Eyes". Initially written and released by The Breezes in 2012, the track is given a face-lift rather than having dramatic reconstruction work. Its cinematic strings are accentuated and through the addition of reverb the track shifts from its lo-fi indie ballad roots to kaleidoscopic chillwave. While not as exciting or as interesting as the two tracks preceding it, its west coast vibe feels like the soundtrack to the dying embers of summer. Although musically bright, its melancholy vocal is that voice reminding you of summer’s transience. And in a way it is a fitting close to a record that has metaphorically taken us to late-night clubs, beaches and promenades.

Released on Seth Troxler’s new imprint Soft Touch Recordings, Is There Light At The End E.P serves as an interesting first release on a label that claims to be “peeling back the exotic and strange”. While the combination of tracks are somewhat strange and novel, there is little here musically that genuinely feels “exotic and strange”. There are nods to the likes of (as mentioned) The Field and LCD Soundsystem (in "Mirror of the Sun"), and thus at times the E.P feels familiar. But it is a record that uses a variety of tricks cleverly to feel like summer and successfully provides escapism to the “exotic and strange”, from the cold reality of summer’s end.