Polymath - Azimuth

(30th Floor Records 2018)

It's no secret that synthwave shares some DNA with trance and progressive house, two '90s dance music genres build on the same synths as our beloved retro genre. Polymath has embraced that connection, and delivered an album that sits right on the boundary of synthwave and prog house.



I'll credit Polymath for originality. After reviewing a couple of highly-competent-but-forgettable releases, I find myself open to music that sets the bar somewhere other than "average track uploaded to NRW." In that sense, Azimuth is refreshing. And when it works, it's really fun. My favorite track is "Alpha Waves," which has a playful sci-fi feel to it. Unfortunately, there's only so much prog house I can take--I hated it in the '90s and that opinion that has not really changed with age.

Also, the production values are a bit lacking. There is, of course, space for raw music--I'd much rather listen to something lo-fi made with feeling than something that's clean but sterile. In this case, though, I sense that Polymath is going for clean and crisp but just hasn't quite figured out how to get there yet. The mixes are pretty muddy. All that said, it's still really nice to hear something that sounds different.

Score: 6.0