Emerald Fantasy Tracks

iTunes Review

The sunburnt, sepia-toned sleeve of Lone’s latest is a little misleading. Aside from the occasional melancholic melody or hazy hook, Emerald Fantasy Tracks is a marked departure from the Boards of Canada nods that dotted the producer’s previous beat suites. What we get instead is a manic approach to house music, a place where cowbells and handclaps converge amid swiftly slapped drum pads and deftly layered synth lines. A couple tracks dial the twitchy tempos down a bit (the hi-hat hisses and static-lined chords of “The Birds Don’t Fly This High,” the funk-infused breaks and drunken last call loops of “Ultramarine”), but there’s no mistaking just how joyous the whole thing sounds. It’s as if Lone decided to pen a love letter to the warehouse rave roots of his native Manchester — a letter we can all appreciate and get swept up in.