At first, »Melancholy Sabotage« sounds like the name of a goth rock party in a nearby town that your older sister drags you to so you can dance to a Siouxsie and the Banshees B-side. It’s the debut album from Lebanese-American artist Solpara, who has been releasing music on Nicolas Jaar’s Other People label for some time now. While the album’s musical lineage suggests similar influences, it often veers into shoegaze territory, especially on the slower, noisier tracks like the nearly eight-minute title track, before building a shrine to IDM and ambient forebears in »Measures«.
The album is less tied to a specific genre than to a mood board that encompasses everything the New Yorker would describe as dark, hazy and atmospheric. In its best moments, it functions like a mixtape that uses droning, beatless moments to make time stand still, while using cold, wavy beat skeletons and dub and punk remnants to occasionally pick up the sluggish pace. In its weaker moments, the mix of styles can feel a little wild.
Melancholy Sabotage
