ARMATURES - Osprey

 Released: May 9

Compared to his previous work on Limitiation, ARMATURE’s latest album is much more accessible and conventional album. That’s not to say that there is no experimentation here, but it’s more muted and wrapped up in something more appropriate for your average racing game, dancefloor, or what have you. Punctuated by tight rhythms and glowing synth lines, its a slickly-produced album that hits a lot of the right notes and keeps the dancefloor cliches to a minimum, although who doesn’t enjoy a good buildup and drop once in a while?

I found the whole album pretty enjoyable but there were a few songs that really stuck out for me for their ability to wrap a bit of weird fun up in the mix. “SCIURI” is one of my favorites here as it doesn’t lean on heavy dance aesthetics and features a steady but somewhat odd rhythm in it. There’s also a good bit of fun done with the synth lines as far as some unusual modulations that keep it interesting. In a similar vein,  “AEOLIC” keeps a shuffled up feeling in the beat, not willing to stick to the grid to any great extent while twinkling little synths bounce around the beat and add to the slightly randomized feeling. 

A theme I felt as the album progressed was that it got a bit more usual as the album went on. The first few tracks, while very well written and produced, were a little too straightforward dance for my tastes, particularly “TOUCAN” which feels very much like a high energy house banger. Good stuff, but not quite my cup of tea. But I overall had a fun time listening to the album as there is plenty to latch on to here with the second half of the album being where I found most of my personal favorites.