Lapalux pushes the bounds of experimental music

On October 13, electronic music producer released his highly experimental EP, The End of Industry. Lapalux is known widely for his use of experimental sound and his latest EP continues this trend. The EP is entirely instrumental and only 5 tracks in length; however the last track is significantly lengthier than the others, sitting at just over seven minutes long.

The opening track of the project, “Complectual” has an abstract feel to it and contains a mix of ambient instrumentation and distorted electronic sounds. There is no drum pattern and outside of the thick synth pad that plays in the background of the track, the instruments seem to jump in and out of the track as Lapalux sees fit. It almost sounds like an orchestra warming up before a performance; preparing listeners for what is to come.

This leads listeners into the next track on the EP, which is entitled “Holding On.” This track starts out extremely soft and has a definite ambient vibe going. However, as the song progresses, the feel of the song shifts to a much heavier sound. There is a drum pattern that surfaces at the end of the track and adds to the heavy shift towards the end.

The next song on the EP, “Shape Sharper,” follows the same kind of layout as the previous track in that it too begins slowly building up to a heavier sound. This track opens with the use of drum instruments in the very beginning and also utilizes mystical vocal harmonization that add to the abstract nature of the song. Towards the end of the song, the tempo picks up greatly but the mystical voice is kept throughout which gives the song an ethereal feel to it.

“Alpha-Plus,” the fourth track on the album, switches from the highly experimental sound that has been present so far on the EP to a more straightforward, ambient kind of sound. This song also features a piano solo at the end and is definitely the easiest song pattern to catch on to, especially for those who aren’t familiar with experimental music.

This leads listeners into the final song on the EP, “Smoke Streams.” The song serves as a fitting end to the EP, incorporating the experimental nature present on the rest of the EP with a lengthy outro composed of thick synth pads and electronic sounds. Although the song is over seven minutes in length, the most of the latter half of the song is made of the outro.

The highly experimental and abstract nature of this EP at times make it a little hard to follow. Periodically, the instrumentation and sounds feel random or the pattern is extremely difficult to catch onto. For those who are fans of experimental music, this EP is just right. Others may find it a little difficult to get into.