Solar Bears / Inner Sunshine

Planet Mu

John Kowalski and Rian Trench, the two members of Planet Mu's new signing Polar Bear, met at the Pulse Sound Engineering School in Dublin, Ireland. This taster EP precedes their full-length album She Was Coloured In, to be released this fall. The pair's multi-faceted sound mixes the rich colors of hip-hop-inflected analog electronica and touches of the shimmering neon synths of late-'70s / early-'80s Kosmische music (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulz, Popul Vuh). Warm and organic with a languid, pastoral grace that intertwines acoustic and rock instruments with electronics, their tracks twist through prog rock's structures and sounds, occasionally making sharp turns into noisier, tense post-rock territory. "Trans Waterfall" flows from its synth-lead melody through passages of tense guitar, building into gentle acoustic guitars and flutes. "Photo Negative Living" rolls along dreamily on a 4/4 beat before the slicing riffs crash in. On Side B, "Crystalline" gets a remix by Letherette, who deconstructs the original and spins it through a head-nodding hip hop remix, while Werk Records star Lone gives "Twin Stars" off the upcoming album a pulsing, atmospheric, upbeat Detroit-techno-influenced rub.

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