Dive

iTunes Review

Tycho’s third studio album finds Scott Hansen creating instrumental soundscapes, which he sees as artifacts from a future that has more in common with our past than our present. This actually makes perfect sense in the opening “A Walk,” which pulses with vintage ambience and tones that sound closer to ‘70s Brian Eno than anything signed to the now-defunct IDM label Merck Records (home of Tycho’s first two full-length recordings). Ethereal female vocal cooing accompanies minimalist keyboard tones and spare beats to make a title track that sounds heavily influenced by Boards of Canada. Similarly, “Coastal Brake” floats on backmasked loops and shoegazer-inspired walls of sound. With the aptly titled “Ascension,” Hansen expands on the early-‘90s crossbreeding of guitar-driven dream-pop and electronic ambient music pioneered by bands like Seefeel and Slowdive. Acoustic-guitar strumming and arpeggios seep into the summery “Melanie,” where organic wooden tones are tastefully contrasted with kitschy chirps and squeals from a vintage analog synthesizer.