Swimming Pools & Movie Stars
Airspace

jangle-gaze / janglepop / jangle pop / post-punk

Heralding the end of a three-year hiatus since the release of his stunning album Modern Architecture, Los Angeles-based Laurence Macaspac and his solo recording project Swimming Pools & Movie Stars are back with a follow-up album titled Airspace. This new release maintains the beauty of the debut while ramping up the eclecticism with seamless aplomb.

Tracks like "Sparkling" and "Nothing" delve deep into the New Order subtleties of melodic gaze, featuring timeless hooks and whispered vocals. "Never Let Go" and "Arctic Wolf" drizzle sunny, isolated surf pop riffs over dank and dulcet post-punk. Meanwhile, "Mad Chester" lives up to its name by stripping back the gregarious psyche-pop of early 90s acts like Flowered Up and World Twist, offering the Baggy/Madchester aesthetic in its newest and purest incarnation so far.

However, Airspace still delivers on the qualities that many of us will undeniably seek when buying the latest Swimming Pools & Movie Stars album. The immense tracks "24 Degrees," "Another Day," and "Distant Sky" extend an invitation to join the ranks of modern jangle gaze greats such as The Luxembourg Field, Ghost Mail, and Lunar Isles, thanks to Macaspac's ability to create lucid jangled riffs that linger in the listener's senses long after the music stops.

Jangle-gaze never quite feels so essential as it does in the hands of Laurence Macaspac...