Marching out of step with the West Coast army of electronic producers and into the post dubstep sunrise is Jennifer Lee, aka TOKiMONSTA. Supported by Mary Ann Hobbs and championed by Flying Lotus, Lee has applied her classical pianist training to the creation of the some of the mostly heavenly digitally dressed soundscapes going. Creature Dreams is her second EP and this release maintains the quality of her previous offerings.
Opener 'Fallen Arches' is slightly chilly, with a droning harpsichord like sound looping round in the background, reminiscent of 'Tear Drops' by Massive Attack.
The real stand out track here is 'Little Pleasure' with the soulful Gavin Turek providing the enlightening vocal hook "I can see the sun through the rain" over uplifting layers of synth. Turek also pops up on efflorescing sixth track 'Darkest (Dim)'; here, the radiance contained within previous tracks takes a downturn to prepare the listener for closer 'Day Job'. On this final track, Lee uncharacteristically leaves us with a stormingly moody tune, closing the EP with a refreshingly bitter taste.
As a whole, Creature Dreams contains a sunshine spectrum of feelings that are expressed through a variety of carefully crafted beats, breaks and samples, assembled with pure finesse. This little monster is out of the lab and on a rampage.
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7alex_snax's Score