A/D by Lorn (Review)

The Wisconsin-based artist known as Lorn describes A/D as “selected commissions, abandoned or rejected themes and broken mantras for moving picture. [L]argely beatless, ambient dives into tape with analog and digital synthesis, drones, dirty power and white noise.” That description covers a lot of ground, but listening to Lorn’s maximalist synth music, I can hear all of that in there — even though most of the songs clock in right around two minutes or less.

Given the songs’ origins as moving picture themes, there’s a suitably vast and cinematic scope to songs like “Spinning in a Dream,” which feels far more epic than its eighty-two seconds might imply. Both “Vestige I” and “Vestige II” tap into the same synthwave textures and arpeggios that Makeup and Vanity Set has used to such great effect in his work. Finally, “Unfolding” is aptly titled, as Lorn unspools his synthesizers to create a soundscape that’s as foreboding and ominous as it is beautiful.