Considering the antiquated roots of the term “trip-hop” – “hip-hop in a floatation tank”, MixmagAndy Pemberton called it that in the 1994 article where he coined the term. “Mood Muzak for the Faint 'and' Paranoid”, Melody MakerSimon Reynolds pitched in a few months later—the idea of animating has proven remarkably resilient. Take a boom-bap beat, paint in a dark bass line or textured sample, echo it all, turn the dimmer switch down. Usually—not always, but most of the time—a singer will be involved, usually a woman. Sometimes it's a voice that sounds like lust incarnate. sometimes as if your own thoughts are thrown under a heavy blanket of the heaviest doubts.
Over the past three decades, trip-hop has recorded countless makeup sessions, melted into the tapestry of countless fast-fash-fashion wardrobes, created some undeniable classics, and even cut a superstar or two. The fact that it has never disappeared also means that it has never had a proper revival. But there were stirring Lately, as 90s electronic styles like trance and drum'n'bass have re-entered the lexicon. The debut album from aso feels like the purest expression of trip-hop in years.
The members of the duo – singer Alia Seror-O'Neill, aka Nickname errorand producer Lewie Day, aka Tornado Wallace, both Australians based in Berlin—originally connected over a mutual love of Kylie Minogue and Madonna, but their music is much darker than those influences. It's even darker than, say, Avalon Emerson's debut album or CFCF Memoryland, two recent forays into electronic pop inspired by a similar set of '90s touchstones. As Tornado Wallace, Day is usually known for a tropical, laid-back sound. He's also kept the tempos slow but burned away all the Balearic influence, leaving only skeletal drums wreathed in smoke. Spy-movie guitars add noir shading. Middle Eastern snake scales around the edges; Acidic synthetics take a test stroke in the shade.
According to his influences—Portishead PuppetMassive Attack's PROTECTIONTricky's Maxinquaye— the mood is sullen and noisy. On “My Baby's Got It Out for Me,” the bassline rests on the roots, while siren flashes and doppler-effect synths suggest crowded city streets. But they're also not averse to the occasional flash of brightness. The keys on opener 'Go On' are supple and satiny, swelling with tones and despite the brooding atmosphere, the occasional major key harmony occasionally reveals itself like a half-hidden smile.
