'Gene': LA Priest's sophomore album is a trippy '80s funk ride featuring homemade synths and a new analog drum
Samuel Dust, the 'Late Of The Pier' frontman who now goes by the name LA Priest, has returned with his latest album 'Gene', his first solo release in four years.
Dust's debut solo project, the cosmic pop 'Inji', was hailed as one of the most interesting experimental records of modern times. Released in 2015, it was an eclectic fusion of pop, space rock, funk, electro, disco, and a whole lot of other genres to create a truly avant-garde experience. And with 'Gene', takes his unique sound to new heights.
The track 'What Moves' beautifully encapsulates Dust's journey, both personal and musical, in addition to being the best representation of how his sound has morphed and grown in the four years that he's been away.
When speaking about his homemade synths and electromagnetic drones that featured on 'Inji' Dust stated, "I want listeners to feel like there’s a pool they can jump into, as deep as my thoughts. I want to be the host, I suppose. Very much like a tour guide in a museum."
He added that he was still shaping this identity. On 'Gene', it seems like he might have found it.
With funky '80's synths and guitars leading the way, 'Gene' also features and is named after a modular analog drum machine Dust dreamt up and built by himself while working in isolation for two years while living in the rural countryside.
In a press release, Dust conveys, "Working in isolation for more than two years in California, Wales and England's south coast, soldering iron in hand, Sam developed the inners of GENE using dozens of electrical circuits he made up himself."
"The creation came after a search for an alternative to the structure and rigor of standard drum machines. Its unique rhythmic patterns are the focal point for the album, which is colored by lush, pastoral tones, paired with the influence of his environmental changes."
That he built an entirely new way to create his music should come as no surprise given that LA Priest was Dust's way of removing himself from the intense experience of fronting a touring band for two years and placing himself in a space to create from a more organic space.
What that affords Dust is a sort of disconnection from popular contemporary music, essentially giving him the space to create something that's really just a musical stream of thought that draws on what comes naturally to him.
When his label at the time was unsure about the musical direction that took Dust from progressive rock further into dance music territory in his solo work, the artist found himself straying even further from his previous musical identity.
And his meandering journey led him to the sound he created on 'Inji' and has further honed on 'Gene'.
This release is a true LA Priest record that is an amalgamation of a variety of genres that makes it a bit of everything but not one thing in particular.
And thanks to that, what we have is an album that is undeniably unique and thoroughly enjoyable, one that transports you into the tranquil, soothing and trippy psychedelic pop world of LA Priest's own making.