Alex Lustig - Sense EP

Alex Lustig
Sense EP
2017
Spotify

Sense is the debut EP from electronic producer Alex Lustig. From the outset the album has this real liquid quality to it with the sound sort of flowing in and out of existence. There is this warble to all these tracks that is just so infectious and inviting begging you to come in and take a dip. His music feels late night, but not in the banger sense more in that lay back and have a real late one with your best friends. His isn't the music that needs to be big, instead it allows you to approach it and take the deep dive. There are certainly plenty of dance elements to these tracks, but you can't really call these songs dance tracks because they are so much more airy than your usual four on the floor. It is almost like Lustig is simply wandering on this record letting the song go wherever it wants and not trying to force anything. You really get this sense on "Moonlight" when He has so many opportunities to cut the song loose and let it explode into a big dance number or dub track but He holds back keeping the music small but direct. The featured singers almost vanish behind the production, serving the song but never overtaking it. NOVAA who sings on "Surreal" vanishes almost completely to the point where you forget there even is a singer. Even though Sense feels like a journey it really feels like one that is incomplete because by the time you are fully entrenched in this music it's almost over.

The one thing you really miss on this EP however is some kind of edge. Everything feels so liquid and so amorphous that you never really get a nice punch coming through. On the title track instead of a big pop coming on the down beat you instead get this sort of skittering sound. It feels nice but lacks the sort of lasting power you would want. Lustig makes music that you can easily put on as background, but you would loose the really interesting pieces to this record. He has a great ear for pacing and tone but needs to be more forceful without trying to get into EDM territory. "U" is the one track that does have a pretty nice pop to it, but not nearly enough to propel the whole record. There are some really nice bones here, and a start to a career that could really be something. We will just have to wait and see who and what Alex Lustig becomes.

7.6 out of 10