Sierra - Strange Valley

(Lazerdiscs 2017)

Lazerdiscs has made a name for itself with the kind of stuff that dominates NRW these days: loud, compressed music that's a bit dark, but not quite satanic Skrillex. More the kind of thing that would fit the soundtrack to a pixel graphics game. Strange Valley, though, is not the typical Lazerdiscs release. For me, that's a good thing.



To begin, Strange Valley harkens back to an earlier aesthetic within synthwave, which I associate with early Perturbator, Makeup & Vanity Set and Le Matos. It is cinematic and retrofuturistic, with a dark edge, but also has some romance. There are palpable influences from trance and progressive house here as well. Sometimes that works for me, and sometimes it doesn't. But I really enjoyed "A Cold Night" and "Desierto," both of which reminded me more of the early '90s than the '80s. Things like Orbital, FSOL, even a touch of goa or Israeli psytrance. That kind of thing.

"Hide" is my favorite track on the EP, though, which is less '90s dance and more '80s soundtrack music. It features very nicely done spoken word vocals, a strong bassline and some cinematic piano and strings. Actually, all six tracks on this EP are very good. So for once I don't have much to complain about, except to say: why not a full album?

I also appreciated how clear and dynamic the mix is. As you surely realize now, I grow weary with the loudness wars that seem to exist only in synthwave. Strange Valley achieves great presence and atmosphere without causing ear fatigue. Darksynth producers take note.

Score: 9.5