Ices [LP]

by Lia Ices

Overview

Singer/songwriter Lia Ices' sophomore effort, 2011's Grown Unknown, was a gorgeous collection of subdued, ethereal textures and melancholic hooks. Guest vocals from Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon on one track didn't hurt when it came to drawing attention to this lesser-known artist, but her haunted blend of Grizzly Bear-esque chamber indie instrumentation and lushly sad songwriting stood on its own throughout the album. Three years and a relocation from Brooklyn to Northern California later, Ices returns with third album Ices, branching out into an entirely different direction from the ghostly sounds that came before it. With the exception of Ices' soaring vocals, often layered in bounding walls of harmony on top of each other, the album is almost completely incomparable to previous work, the soft-spoken acoustic arrangements left behind for multicolored samples, electronic beats, and interjections of synthesizers and washed-out guitars. This drastic change of sound is aided by production from notable chillwave/electronic mavens Benny Sagittarius and Clams Casino, offering beats that feel crisp and at times enormous in their scope. The remarkably catchy "Higher" sounds like a hybrid of Panda Bear's sunny loops and a huskier version of Grimes' impressionistic electropop. The lazy lope of "Love Ices Over" experiments with some of the same architecture of vocal snippets that made Blue Hawaii's Untogether so interesting, lacing wordless coos over a gliding palette of Beach House-esque melodies. ~ Fred Thomas

Product Details

Release Date:	09/16/2014
Label:	Jagjaguwar
UPC:	0656605220512
Rank:	82838

Tracks

1. Tell Me
2. Thousand Eyes
3. Higher
4. Love Ices Over
5. Magick
6. Electric Arc
7. Sweet as Ice
8. Creature
9. How We Are
10. Waves

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lia Ices   Primary Artist
Alberto Lopez   Percussion
Eli Walker   Bass

Technical Credits

Eli Walker   Mixing,Engineer
Chris Gehringher   Mastering
Jay Carroll   Design
Clams Casino   Additional Production
Sumner Jones   Vocal Engineer
Benny Sagittarius   Mixing,Producer
Hugo Barros   Artwork,Collage