By Liz Belilovskaya

Fluorescence is a sweet, shockingly subdued, experimental album. Asobi Seksu is edgy in terms of creativity, pragmatic in their arrangements and smart in their sampling/manipulation. But something is off. Vocally they linger at the higher-pitched end of the spectrum, often overpowered by their compositions. Can their musical aptitude overcome that vocal deficiency? 

“Coming Up” is a speedy but graceful melody with an airy sparseness that tempers the exciting arrangements that run throughout. A cool vibrating effect on certain notes was sweetly implemented while the heavy manipulation didn’t weigh down the free-fall tone. “Trails” is heavier, musically. Vocally, the singer tries a deeper pitch but is not as successful at carrying the long notes as she is in her comfort range. The result is a charming awkwardness that adds character to the song.

The theme of “My Baby” is essentially the same as of “Trails,” chronicling the lament of a relationship gone wrong. “Perfectly Crystal” is crisp, eschewing the heavily synthesized aesthetic to accentuate the softness of the vocals. The musicians sound clearer, with less auditory fog clouding the tracks and the increased presence of analog instruments is refreshing. “In My Head” features a winding, repetitive keyboard progression. Yuki Chikudate’s vocals adopt a whispering high pitch that is difficult to discern among the booming drums and instrumentation.

Reverb is the name of the game on “Leave the Drummer Out There,” accented by light guitars and crescendo-building drums that build in speed and intensity until it collapses. Dithering synths commands the middle leg as moody guitars convert the song to a ballad. Booming drums and pulsing guitars form the third leg of the song with a quickening pace that sprints to an abrupt end

Chikudate’s vocals lead impossibly high on “Sighs” but are thankfully reined in by James Hanna on the refrain. The driving melody, keyboard synths and drums all push higher and almost drown out their voices. Hanna’s intervention enables them to be heard. Muscular electric guitars and a drippy atmospherics draw the dong to a close.

“Deep Weird Sleep” is a cool mix of mindfully-arranged, pulsating angelic musical segments and ambient synth held together by a melody that encompasses a lot of clever and pleasant sounding choices in sampling and manipulation. Cult/trance meditation music at its funkiest. Aliens not included.

Undulating synth and a boom clap drum pattern form the foundation of “Counterglow” with Hanna as lead and Chikudate on background vocals. His voice is echoed and bathed in guitar and atmospherics. “Ocean” is meditative and sedating with church organs, sparse triangles and soft strings. The female vocals tease going finally low enough in pitch to hear in spurts but still not loud enough to hear over the pulsating drums.

“Trance Out” comes in strong and steady with Japanese lyrics delivered in a deeper cadence than anywhere previously on the album. Unfortunately chunky guitars and kick drums reduce them to another instrument. Layered voice effects of the singer are delivered at different pitches and tones. The work closes with “Pink Light.”  The track feels like the closing song of a John Hughes 80’s film, rife with tension, angst and insecurity. The male and female vocals work their way through a rapidly changing musical landscape with instrument/pace changes.

Musically, Fluorescence is lovely. There are complex guitar and drum arrangements throughout and layering of effects that ad character and flow. The problem is you can barely make out the words. That could be dope or maddeningly frustrating. The band nicely combines synths, diverse instruments, angelic vocals with foggy and pulsating beats, but this record that is supposed to be awesome, is pretty cool but not great. The title is apt; efficient and sufficient, but not exceedingly luminous.

out of 5

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