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Review: Separateness by Lore City

The Portland, Oregon duo Lore City are one of those groups who really sit in a unique musical place. Their use of ambient, drone and shoegaze elements, as well as a repetitive slow-building compositional style, gives their sound distinction from the atmospheric indie acts they might instinctively be compared to such as Oh Wonder, London Grammar or Beach House. They twist this sound into something utterly distinct, showing the significant and authentic influence of bands like Swans, Mogwai and Cocteau Twins.

Separateness is the opening track from their 2020 album Alchemical Task, and sets the tone superbly for the entire album; it's joyously minimalist, entrancing and ethereal. If you were to imagine a collaboration between Grimes, Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle, Tim Hecker and Brian Eno you might find something in your mind that resembles Separateness. At over eight and a half minutes long it's beautifully hypnotic, stretching out subtle melodies and trembling harmonies into an exceptionally mesmerising piece.

There's a singular beat that rolls through the song; it's there, but it's also not quite there either, similar to the way drone metal act Nadja use rhythm. It's not a beat designed to move the feet, but instead to add the lightest of frameworks to the ambiguous ambience. There's a consistent yet effervescent melody that washes through the track, setting the foundation for the piano lines and synth harmonies that draw the outline. On it's own it feels like the kind of spacious sound you might imagine as background music in a Scandinavian technology museum, sound-tracking an exhibition on modular synth design.

The vocals are what really give this track it's colour. They are restrained and soft, pursuing beauty in the form of rich harmonies and clever atmospherics as opposed to solo virtuosity. They deliver a haunting and celestial nature to the song, creating dream-like expansions that pulsate through the droning synths. There's no peak or crescendo as such, but there doesn't really need to be; there is tension and release certainly, but rather than as separate dimensions of the track, they seem to play out alongside each other in a constant organic equilibrium.

As someone who revels in the drawn-out drone metal sounds of SunnO))), Earth and Boris, I felt a strong attachment to Separateness. While sonically Lore City have an unyielding clarity, there is also a density to this track that draws you in immediately like a glistening black hole. Perhaps it's the fact that, while the ambience and atmosphere of Separateness are so beautiful, at it's heart there is a joyous hook which makes this track instantly addictive. 


Listen to and purchase Lore City's music on Bandcamp

Find out more about Lore City on their website

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