Still

23 year-old Lachlan McFeely Bolt, fka Dressin Red, returns to Astral Black for the release of 'Still', his first official musical output since January 2016. With the name change, Bolt aims to bring the two worlds of his visual and audio creative works closer togeher.

With the focus of this record being more on feeling or aesthetic, rather than techincal prowess, the results are a far more fragile and intimate insight into the mind of this individual young artist. Whilst previous works allowed for Bolt's complex and arpeggiated synth lines to shine through, 'Still' is more holistic in it's approach; letting elements of both analogue and digital coincide.

'ByMy' is a perfect example of this, taking both the melodic elements of 'Kibble Place' and introducing elements of manipulated voice and guitars. At times Bolt moves toward an almost song-writing based approach, with his voice at the forefront of 'My Woes' and Guitar taking centre stage on album opener, 'Rise'. Whilst elsewhere, the anthemic, slow-motion jungle of '2 Scared 2 Say' (which soundtracked Boiler Room's recent documentary on Glasgow's new-wave) sounds like Burial just met Underworld at Glastonbury.

The 9-track project sees Lachlan move through a series of moods, with the album closer and title track 'Still' (Bolt's ode of sorts to Steve Reich's 'Music for 18 Musicians') leaving him, and ultimately the listener, in a particularly content mood.