See Mystery Lights

iTunes Review

In the early 2000’s, Yacht — driven solely by Jona Bechtolt — made playful electronic music that only hinted at what Yacht would become. Bechtolt performed with K Records’ the Blow at the same time, and after focusing on Yacht and making it an official duo with the addition of vocalist Claire Evans, he hooked up with the esteemed DFA Records. See Mystery Lights is the record all pupating artists hope to make, the one that takes them from the weird, adolescent caterpillar-stage where the whole wing thing is just awkward right into the stunningly beautiful butterfly stage. The duo’s flawless use of brainy artfulness and deeply carved dance grooves is hard to resist, and where the majority of their tunes evoke the lightheartedness of, say, the Tom Tom Club, there is a palpable undercurrent of dark otherworldliness, of something unknown. In the same way less can be more, the unknown always holds special promise; it’s that tantalizing element that really makes See Mystery Lights all that it is: fascinating and enthralling.