Lyndhurst - Tapes

A Closer Listen

In 2023 and 2024, Lyndhurst (Oscar Ball and Dan Carney) released two EPs, each containing six tracks and averaging 26 minutes in length.  In 2025, they will release their debut album, containing eight tracks and totaling 32 minutes; so for listeners who have always wondered, we can now identify the line between an EP and an album!

Lyndhurst is the rare act to impress out of the gate; we were immediately enamored by Platforms, our initial impressions confirmed by Caves.  Tapes seals the deal. While the quality here is just as high, the difference is that the set flows beautifully from beginning to end, a difficult trick when one composes electronic music in contrasting shades.  The simple cover seems to convey a simple message: while many things may be dark and bleak, there is always comfort somewhere, a message that is translated into their music.

The album jumps into the water with both feet, as “Rooms” introduces a contagious synth line and vocal loop before dropping the beats less than a minute in.  One can imagine it finding its way into many DJ sets, especially those located near a beach.  The percussive closing segment deserves to be extended, so we’re hoping for a remix.  In contrast, “Seabird” incorporates a fuzzed-out, distorted pattern that makes it seem tougher and edgier, even when the warmer melodies bubble beneath. The breakdown creates anticipation for the pattern’s return, but when it resurfaces, it does so in altered fashion.  The tempo-adjacent “Envelopes” keeps the energy steady with a popcorn vibe redolent of 80s synth music.  It’s also the first of three tracks to feature Mike Cranny on sax, an inspired addition.

When the mallet instruments appear on “Viaduct,” one begins to appreciate the duo’s range.  Their variety of timbres creates a level of anticipation for each new piece, although again we’re hoping for an extended mix as the track tops out at only 2:43.  Cranny contributes a jazzy vibe to “Canopy,” which sounds like the moment when one is in a lounge chair, drink in hand, realizing that at least for the moment, one lacks for nothing.  The rare track without beats, “Canopy” serves as a palette cleanser between courses, setting the stage for the album’s finest piece, “Health Centre,” its lyric-free loops swimming in a pool of happy beats as Peter Hook-esque bass leads the piece first to a percussive break, then to a sun-drenched finale.

By the time the album ends with the gentle “Shinpads,” Cranny weaving his magic in comedown fashion, we realize we’ve once again been on the receiving end of a pleasant hit and run, as if a mysterious child had run up to us, given us a flower and vanished into a crowd.  This is the impact of Lyndhurst: appearing out of nowhere, gracing us with their music year after year.  We scan the horizon, yearning for yet another album, another EP, even one more note.  (Richard Allen)