Classically trained composer and pianist
Ryan Lott takes the
anticon-approved electronic route on
At War with Walls & Mazes, which he performs under the name
Son Lux. Combining samples with electronic and live instrumentation,
Lott writes sad, lush music that never forgets its sense of composition and melody. Sometimes, this is done to a fault:
Lott is clearly so attuned to arrangement and harmony that he overlooks the fact that a little bit of dissonance in his crackling percussion and swirling keyboards can be beneficial, that not everything needs to be resolved super-cleanly. This is especially true considering that
Lott's vocals are anything but definitive, more often teetering on the edge of despair, too pained to be much more than breathy and unimpressive. The limitations of his voice (and lyrics: most songs consist of a few repeated phrases) and emotion can get a bit tiresome, even grating, which means that the songs in which he plays with the mix, letting his vocals fall under the layers of strings and chopped bleeps -- like in the lovely
"Stand," which erupts suddenly into female operatic vocals, drum rolls, and lots of piano while the line he'd been singing since the beginning ("You stand between my and all my enemies") fades distantly away -- are a lot more interesting and help to break up the otherwise slow, sad steadiness of the rest of the album. Musically, while
Lott is certainly talented, he hasn't quite figured out how to turn his pieces from background music -- his more typical format: he's composed for dance ensembles and television commercials -- into actual songs that do more than just start and stop, pick up and slow down.
At War with Walls & Mazes is an ambitiously detailed and delicate album, but it's not entirely a unique album, especially in the
anticon catalog, and
Lott's overly weak voice doesn't do much to help matters, leaving it as a valiant effort perhaps, but not a fully realized work. ~ Marisa Brown
