PLASTIC HOUSE ON BASE OF SKY

Toby Driver delivers again. This album's promotional material stated that "Kayo Dot never makes the same album twice", and while this is largely true, this is definitely the most similar two albums in a row have been. This definitely is not a bad thing in this case. Coffins on Io, while fantastic, had a tendency to drag for these ears, where many tracks seemed to be built off of repetition over the usual compositional depth that Driver is known for. Now for this album, sonically it is very similar. There is still a heavy reliance of analog synthesizers, even more so than the past album, but this time, it is coupled with the depth and complexity of composition that was missing from the past album. The album is still filled with the catchy 80's crooner lines from Driver's "David Sylvian" voice, but this time the music further separates him from his influences, creating a way more original sound. In fact, after multiple listens, I found myself actually humming some parts (especially Amalia's Theme and Rings of Earth). With this album, Driver struck the perfect balance between accessibility and sheer experimentalism, for even though there are parts you can hum to, there are equally as many parts that I still have no idea what's going on, but in a good way. Coffins on Io was definitely the foundation, but this album has fully solidified Driver's newfound obsession with the 80's as artistically viable. One of my favorites of this year so far, I can't give it any less than 5 stars, not a single low point to these ears.