By: Mitchell Treend

Eliot Lipp. He is just about as creative as he is diverse in exploring varieties of sound. After two mesmerizing releases on Pretty Lights Music, he returns with yet another foray into the strange and wild world of his musical delights. Watch the Shadows contains10 tracks, each just as unique as the last, spanning multiplestyles while holding onto the foundation which seems to guide each song from a common core. As any release on PLM can be said to foster ingenuity and a savory, soulful take on modern electronic music, Watch the Shadows exemplifies what it means to push the boundaries of style and place in the ever incessant drive to compartmentalize musical expression into neat little boxes.

Sonically, the album works on many different levels. Tantalizing melodies, funk and soul transmitted through new-age electro that pushes across dance friendly beats. Next thing you know we are lost in a dream, diving deeper into a drawl of those shadowy rhythms, haunting and exhilarating. Progression is key in telling a story through sound and the album seems to push and pull towards some illumination of the unknown.

The title track and introduction to the album, “Watch the Shadows,” glows with the classic vibes Eliot Lipp is loved for in his two previous releases. Deep full-figured bass lines, the low call of horns and dreamy synths and minimal vocals urge a sense of discovery as you are swept away deeper, into the recesses of the mind.

Cherub makes an illustrious vocal appearance on the track “The Western.” Things really start to heat up with a shining trumpet introduction and those sexy vocals from singer Jordan Kelley calling out from below the surface, drawing further toward the top, dusting off weary bones with a sinister reminder of a wild west we find ourselves in from time to time.

“Fresh” comes in towards the end of this album with something a bit heavier in mind. Although we are led in by splashy cymbals and a distorted vocal sample things drop down low with dastardly kick drum and those snare rolls popping as “fresh” as they come. The track moves into a double-time feel before a killer drum break down and absolutely smashing return to half-time bass drops that just might blow that new sub in a heartbeat.

As with all PLM releases, you can pay what you want, but we encourage you to cough up a lil’ sump’n sump’n for the man.