
ISLET
Soft Fascination (Fire)
If Islet’s third LP, 2019’s Eyelet, exhibited a newfound sense of control and (relative) serenity, its successor lets some of the old chaos and weirdness back in. Characterised, somehow, by both immediacy and inscrutability, Soft Fascination is a patchwork of distorted pop, robo-synths, wonky basslines, fidgety rhythms and fluid, ambient interludes.
Returning fourth member JT makes his presence felt through the busy drums on Flailing and Lemons in particular, while Woolgathering is a mind-bending cheese dream and slinky groover Hat Person is probably the first song ever to feature a lyrical reference to a “linty sock”. Soft Fascination isn’t easy to digest in a single sitting, and doesn’t always work: Discipline, for instance, merely grates. But them’s the risks – and in the company of such wildly and restlessly inventive musicians, you’re best advised to take heed of opener Euphoria’s message and simply abandon yourself to the “ritual ecstatic”.
words BEN WOOLHEAD