Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too

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  • Even for the genre of cosmic, with its inherent tendency for hubris, Lindstrøm's ambition is dizzying. The three tracks on Where You Go I Go Too clock in at 28:58, 10:11, and 15:58. This is to supposedly allow him to "develop different themes and let them evolve." But despite appearances, the reigning king of the Scandinavian disco mafia doesn't actually stray too far from his comfort zone of melody-based music. And as it turns out, that's a good thing, because when he drifts away into a beatless ether, he gets lost in space. That happens on the title track, the longest of the trio. Lindstrøm admits the length may be a problem for some people but if the track's up to it, it shouldn't—just look at Goldie's "Timeless." But where the jungle masterpiece holds your attention throughout its 20-minute length, "Where You Go" drifts into progressive and ambient meaninglessness. Not even a synth line from Cerrone's "Supernature" can stop it from disappearing up its own black hole. It's still a cosmic journey, but one that should have stopped after one galaxy. You're left peering out of the window of your beleaguered spaceship as the stars whizz by, each one becoming more and more indistinguishable from the last. The disappointment of "Where You Go" is brought into especially sharp focus because the two other tracks are significantly better and more dynamic. You can see what Lindstrøm was trying to do with the track by listening to "The Long Way Home," which is reined in and given far more purpose and direction thanks to clearly defined sections. "The Long Way" opens with a kind of frantic Miami Vice-esque glockenspiel mixed into a Balearic guitar that would do Studio proud. A restrained breakdown gives way to what resembles a TV movie soundtrack from the '80s. All of it comes together at the end where it becomes, with judicious use of a "bing" noise, emotive instead of schmaltzy, the soundtrack to a perfect holiday on a white island. "The Long Way" is more cheesy than we've seen Lindstrøm before, but retains a cute nostalgia without tipping into naff. On "Grand Ideas" Lindstrøm goes exploring again, this time looking inward to his previous material. From the kind of mid-tempo groove we've seen from him many times before, the track morphs into something far more intense and hair/arm-raising. Over a base of neon sprinkles more and more layers are added along with the kind of melody beloved of Alden Tyrrell, which goes up and up and up until it reaches the heavens. It's like Lindstrøm has taken the same principle behind "I Feel Space" and maximized it, making it a devastating dancefloor bomb. The cosmic sound is by nature a bit daft but the more epic it gets, the more it runs the risk of taking itself a bit too seriously and becoming smug. "Where You Go," the track, falls into this trap and hampers an otherwise excellent album. It's particularly frustrating because "The Long Way" shows that Lindstrøm can experiment beyond his fondness for melody and succeed. Perhaps, rather than aiming for the outer limits, Lindstrøm should seek out a place somewhere between there and his home planet—I'm sure it will be beautiful.
  • Tracklist
      01. Where You Go I Go Too 02. Grand Ideas 03. The Long Way Home
RA