Listen: Lapalux - Lustmore (Album Stream)

I was thinking - good thing the long weekend's just started - all the stressed music journalists of Australia can finally chill for a few days, take a break from trying to keep up with, and come up with interesting insights into, the constant barrage of awesome new music being thrown out there every minute. Just as I was pouring myself a glass of red wine and preparing to shut all my browser tabs... Lapalux went and dropped the first album stream of his sophomore album, Lustmore. And here we are. 

I'm sure heaps of us have been waiting for this - London producer Stuart Howard's second release on Flying Lotus' label, Brainfeeder - for so long. Until now, Lapalux has been very secretive about his follow-up to 2013's fantastic Nostalchic - only recently putting out an album taster via his collaboration with Szjerdene, Closure - but that was enough for all of us to know our favourite weird and skewy beatmaker was on track. "I’m very pleased to share my new album to the world!” shared Lapalux on Facebook, "I hope you all find something to love in this record. A lot of work and love went in to making it."

Straightaway, there's a departure from the glitchy, digital chatter of Nostalchic, but enough wooziness to not deter die-hard Nostalchic fans. The mood is more mature, however, and deeper - Lapalux's compositions on Lustmore are soulful and jazzy, richly sensual, laden with soft sax... it's a real late night album. But not one for the lovers - one for the romantic loners. One song's all about falling out of love with someone, another's inspired by the scene in Aliens where Ripley talks to Newt about never leaving her... there's a lot of sadness here.

Lapalux has enlisted female vocalists to bring a sense of real emotional dialogue and reality to the songs - as well as Szjerdene, the album features a few collaborations with another British vocalist, Bonobo collaborator Andreya Triana, who brings the perfect amount of red district smoky sexiness to track Puzzle. “It’s a very visual song for me," Lapalux previously told FACT Mag of the track, "It’s about a sort of seedy, underground desire, like an old bar that used to have class, getting slowly seedier, to keep up with the demand for exploitation and filth." At times, Lustmore veers into heavier territory - Make Money brings in elements of the trap style - but never so much as to disrupt the album's overarching musical themes.

Lapalux told Dazed and Confused that the album was inspired by old film soundtracks - with the aim to create "an imaginary visual experience" - retro-futuristic, cinematic experience. "Whenever I think about the album I think about the bar scene in The Shining...There’s something about that strange, hallucinatory, psychological madness that relates to the music."

Stream it now via Dazed and Confused, where you'll also find a track-by-track analysis. Stream an awesome mix Lapalux did recently for FADER Mag, below.

Follow Lapalux: FACEBOOK / TWITTER / SOUNDCLOUD