Finding the right balance

Laurent Clerc aka Little People is an electronic music producer who crafts intricate and progressive electronica. His new album Landloper takes the accessible side of EDM and introduces it to the shifting percussion, dynamic structures and sound design oddities found in IDM. Little People does an excellent job of juggling acoustic and organic samples with warm synthesizers and sequenced grooves.

The album begins beautifully with the track “PDX.” Inviting and not overused vocal chops croon over glitchy yet serene and ethereal organic percussion and pulsating synth lines. The melodies are catchy, the structure is defined and emotional and the percussion provides IDM levels of sound design intrigue. “Skies Turn Blue” featuring vocals from Tif Lamson, is a much more conventional sound. A cool slow house beat carries a funky dub influenced bassline with some interesting swingy percussion. “How to Navigate” calls back to a UK dub sound, with drunken percussive flourishes with pitch-shifted vocal chops. Everything is tasteful and structured competently, but there might be too strong of a Burial influence here even if the tone is drastically different.

Little People’s production on “Embrace” is very stripped back and slow as to leave space for the lovely vocals. Even though this track is more subdued, the sound design is still interesting and always moving from motif to motif. “Tonight” is dubby and fairly straightforward; percussive synth notes dance around soft synth chords. Little People does an excellent job of adding interesting elements and riffs, making his tracks feel complex and more experimental. The drums on “Lozenge Less” are a highlight, especially when they are surrounded in watery ethereal synth bleeps and bass hits. These songs are very dynamic, and changes in intensity and speed make each track feel fleshed out and more than just interesting ideas being thrown together.

Overall Little People release a smooth, dynamic and texturally complex album of forward-looking electronica. These songs are a mismatch of influence from organic samplers like Four Tet to the choppy drums and pitch-shifted soul vocals of Burial. Landloper finds its own footing in a crowded field and delivers a tasteful and worthwhile listening experience.