With a strident return to form, Ulver delivers again on his intelligent renditions of matured Synthpop. After a couple of shaky releases, Locusts rediscovers balance. Steeped in dusky atmospheres, classy compositions layer up dreamy instrumentation for his voice to shine like a light guiding the way forward. Steady baselines peruse and pristine keyboard tones shimmer in a dense dance, lush and brim. Melodies play fractured, subdued, diverse, allowing emotion to amass from its parts, without steeling focus from our front man who steps into the stage light, suited up and proper.
Its a smart, intelligent set of songs with a soft city nightlife vibe reminiscent of an older generation. Accents of New Wave, Art Pop and Dance music show distinctive influences, perfectly reworked to suit this breezy pace. The record stars slow and withheld, a minimal take on the formulae to come. The opening title track lunges into its big synth kicks towards its conclusion but the proceeding Nocturne #2 reminded me of Peter Gabriel, a Worldbeat influenced tangent slow and meandering. Its a great conjuring of softly esoteric mood yet halts the show from starting somewhat.
The other installment of Nocturne interjects between these snugly paired songs with a broody rendition of droning synths. Powerful, dark and dreary yet adrift from the records overall tone. The rest of its songs play an effortless pleasure, dazzling and soulful in their own way. Very enjoyable yet feels a little light in variety. What detours it does offer drift from its solid foundations. Curation is possibly its culprit.
Rating: 6/10