Thurston Moore's ninth solo album marks a stylistic shift into ambient, dreamlike grooves that are hypnotic, stunning, and pretty. Flow Critical Lucidity lulls and weighs you down into a deep, dreamlike slumber deep on the shadowy ocean floor.
Best known for his iconic guitarwork and noise for the legendary band Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore hasn't fallen away from the limelight since the band's demise nearly fifteen years ago. Releasing music from numerous projects, both solo and collaborative, Moore continued to experiment and further push his signature noisy sound. His newly released ninth studio album, titled Flow Critical Lucidity, marks a stylistic shift into ambient, dreamlike grooves that are hypnotic, stunning, and pretty. The noise isn't necessarily completely gone and neither is Moore's moody singing voice but there's an emphasis and focused lens on walls of repeated grooves and melodies that are often gorgeous to listen to. There are still some moments of noisy challenging bits such as the sinister "New In Town" that kicks the album off, reminding me of something Danny Elfman would've made on his latest solo effort. "New In Town" is actually the shortest track at three minutes, while most of the songs venture into five, six, seven minute plus territory. This isn't a nuisance by any means due to the engaging songs, craft, and execution. These songs certainly are deserving of their length.
"Sans Limites" is the album's best track hands down. Featuring Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, it's a beautiful tune that shines with blissful ambience thanks to its hypnotic guitars, gorgeous piano, and driving vocals from Moore. "Shadow" has prickly guitars and grooves that hop along in a dark new wavy progression, as sharp and vigorous as the album's cover. "Hypnogram" has Moore singing in a lullaby state along with some moody guitars matching with some pretty keys backing it. "We Get High" is definitely one of the album's noisier and creepier moments, with echoing guitar reverb, some sputtering marimbas, and haunting reciting vocals that may give you goosebumps. "Rewilding" is the album's grooviest track with a repeatedly descending guitar groove, bongos, glitchy electronics and noise. "The Diver" concludes the record in dreamy fashion with one of Moore's most beautiful compositions. The song itself sums up what Flow Critical Lucidity does as a whole, which lulls and weighs you down into a deep, dreamlike slumber deep on the shadowy ocean floor. As an album, its flow is consistently beautiful and Moore successfully creates a record that is beautiful as he continues to push himself into new directions. It has a remarkable representation of what Moore can do both quietly and elegantly, which is not exactly what the common listener would expect coming from a Thurston Moore album.
My Rating: 7 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Sans Limites," "The Diver," "Rewilding," "Hypnogram"
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