Visible Cloaks - Lex

Visible Cloaks
Lex
2017
Spotify

Strap in ladies and gentlemen because this review may get a little bumpy. Last year Visible Cloaks released their debut full length Reassemblage a glitchy, techno leaning, part ambient deep dive into what electronic music can mean. That album was the first piece of a three part project from the Oregon Duo looking to describe the future through music. On this EP however they have really gone over the edge using translation software to create a whole new language of half words and phrases. You never quite no what they are saying and the electronics are so...well... electronic that it feels like a completely different world. This becomes even more apparent on the albums final and fourteen minute track "World". It feels like a journey through space, far off future space with all it's beauty and discovery. Visible Cloaks allow this record to really meander and just sort of slowly move along without any pressure or expectation. That is what really sets this album apart in that in having no real direction it makes a clear point about where the future is going. It's really quite breathtaking when you are sitting here letting the songs sort of exist in the background, fully ambient, but then some harsh electronic sound comes in letting you know you are actually not here, you're somewhere else, somewhere far in the future.

The environment is so tactile on this album, even when the unintelligible words are being spoken they feel real and definite. Everything on the record feels cared for, perfected and dialed in. You can imagine the time that went into this 27 minute EP getting each sound in just the right place after creating a language to work with. It's crazy really. "Frame" at one point begins to feel like transient noise, like a lot of other ambient albums have attempted before but the disparate nature of the sounds is fascinating. Now one thing Lex is not however is fun. There is almost no beat, no grounding, just a spacey journey through some spacey sounds, but if you embrace that and enjoy it for what it is you are in for a real heady treat. Lex takes you on an interesting journey but one that is a little glimpse of what the future of music might be, not tomorrow but 100 years from now.

7.9 out of 10