Touched Music continues in style this November, ramping up to an epic 2020 with an incredibly well-rounded offering from Lyrus. Found In is the collaborative work of Dean De Benedictis (Surface 10) and Frank Prinzen, long-time friends who’ve put their heads, hands and hearts together to produce a rich collection straight out of California.
Touched Music continues in style this November, ramping up to an epic 2020 with an incredibly well-rounded offering from Lyrus. Found In is the collaborative work of Dean De Benedictis (Surface 10) and Frank Prinzen, long-time friends who’ve put their heads, hands and hearts together to produce a rich collection straight out of California. Apparently they have a hard time agreeing on names for things but I’m happy they’ve agreed to work together full stop as the album is awesome.
Right off the bat we’re thrown into lush surroundings—”Headria” is a dense rainforest of a song that gives me serious “Papua New Guinea” vibes and good feelings aplenty, what follows with “You Solve Me, Sucka” is both incredibly different but in the same vein. Its drums are well polished, owning a serious jam with lots to hook on to and opportunities to hum along.
“Skiesthatmissus” scratches right to the core, the initial rhythm never letting go as it builds into a pumping and vibrant track. So pumping in fact that Touched veteran Karsten Pflum has included a reworking, twisting it up a bit, throwing some acid in and making it a tiny bit more dancefloor. Both versions are great, playing on different themes but keeping it ever-flowing.
The following three tracks dial it back a bit but don’t let up all the way. The silent transition between “Omnidirectional Biatchnal” and “The Lyrus Bricklayer” tricks and doesn’t quite prepare me for the latter track. And there really is some bricklaying going on here, it’s a truly well-structured and layered piece with three clear movements, musical storytelling at its finest. Rounding off the trio—”Unsuckening” pleases with its drifting swirls and delayed melody.
The last of the non-remixed tracks, “Love Ly” is the calm before the storm and wouldn’t be amiss at a meditation session. Another piece that ships with two additional versions, we’re given one from Dean himself with a Surface 10 remix and one from Antonyme. The former is a thoughtful emphasis on the more powerful parts of the song, another way of experiencing the same emotions (they sound lovely when played back to back by the way) and if I thought things couldn’t get more relaxed the Antonyme remix proves me completely wrong as it sends me into space.
Additional remixes all give us unique versions of what were already interesting pieces. A previous Surface 10 collaborator—Niture—provides a version of ‘Skiesthatmissus’ that’s quite abstract but manages to hold onto the key beauty. Attraktta uses the raw power from the melody of
“Headria” to strong effect, channeling the force of his 2018 release on Touched and Ruxpin nails it with a rather ambient-beat version of “You Solve Me, Sucka,” maintaining all the feelings of the original in a different package.
We hope that Found In is found in your collection (pun and bad use of the English language intended). Only 100 physical copies are available with artwork by Nathan David in a stylish and modern single DVD case, and a digital release in all of your favourite formats. All proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Found In is available on Touched Music.
