Album Reviews

Album Review: Damian Lazarus – Smoke The Monster Out (Get Physical Music)

By | Published on Monday 4 May 2009

Damian Lazarus

Damian Lazarus has been around for a while, acting as a dance music tastemaker in his roles as writer, A&R rep and DJ, but this is actually his first album. It’s a diverse and clearly personal work, fusing a number of styles with a clear determination not to be predictable. Limited single ‘Moment’ sums up the cerebral dynamic at hand – it starts with gloriously symphonic nursery rhyme melodies and warm, familiar-sounding vocals (from Lazarus himself)… not at all what you expect to hear on a techno album, but just before you think you’ve acclimatised, a 4/4 house beat kicks in, before sepia-tinted female vocals (à la Bent) drift in and out and bass rumbles ominously, all making it one of the strangest house tunes you’ll ever hear. The rest of ‘Smoke The Monster Out’ equally demonstrates an artist not scared of convention (or confused listeners) and willing to push boundaries and explore. For the most part, this playfulness pays off, and the cinematic grandeur (courtesy of arrangements by Arthur Jeffes) helps add vivid splashes of colour to the canvas. The sinister sounds, eerie vocals and uncompromising dancefloor dynamics of ‘Come And Play’ make it an enthralling listen. Similarly, ‘Neverending’ is built on punishing beats but has an accessible edge due to the poppy vocals and melodies, whilst a clever Ultravox sample makes the glistening ‘It’s Raining Today’ even more evocative. This is a brave album that, although at times doesn’t quite work (the weak ‘Memory Box’ is just dull), when it does, it’s little short of magical. MS

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