- Arclight are the first signing to Jacques Greene's VASE label that isn't Jacques Greene. You can immediately understand why. While their music owes a lot more to sun-soaked indie rock and shoegaze than the buoyant house their label boss deals in, it shares in the same giddy love of melody.
The three tracks on Holographic run together like a short suite, and "Vitamin D" is the cinematic intro, easing listeners in with saccharine vocals and coursing spurts of synth that emulsify into overwhelming sheets of sound. The vocals have a Brian Wilson-esque sheen that complements the filmy synths, and they become most prominent on the EP's title track, which rattles and shakes around an arpeggio as if Arclight had wondered into some Brainfeeder-esque recording session. Think a Jacques Greene track left out to bake in the sun, colours running and drums caught in the muck. The closer "Purple City" wipes away some of the red and orange dye for a disjointed, lopsided funk number, vocals still cooing softly in the background despite the jagged beat and resonant synths. Arclight have a pointedly pretty sound that doesn't lack any power, and this EP is a tantalizing taste of their potential.
Tracklist A1 Vitamin D
A2 Holographic
B Purple City