afropunk premiere: stream experimental electronica artist lawrence lindell’s new album ‘magic megaphone’ #soundcheck

The young Lawrence Lindell has quickly earned a name as one of the most exciting electronica artists out there. Descended in equal measure from Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, and Pierre Schaeffer, his music blends dizzying atmospherics, blistering beats, and stunning off kilter melodies. His latest record, Magic Megaphone is a lushly disorienting feast for the ears.

Words by Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK Contributor

Magic Megaphone leans more heavily on spacey atmospherics than his previous albums. “Seeds” blisters and bubbles like shaken seed pods growing into sci-fi trees. Or maybe just Baobabs. But Little Prince kind of Baobabs that occupy a single tiny planet. “Baobab” (parts I and II) find Lindell in epic chill out mode. From the seedlings and spaced out ambience of the first part, the second grows into a skippy beat and a swooping synth riff. On the haunting “Bloom,” the nature theme continues, but this time with one of the strongest beats on the record. A simple repeating chord progression builds and blossoms into a classic deconstructing IDM beat. It’s strange and fantastic that a record with so few organic sounds should invest so heavily in trying to evoke natural phenomena.
The record hits strongest on the songs that find Lindell engaging in a little magic himself. “Magic Jetpacks,” “I Ate the Magic Fruit,” and “Magic Megaphone” all find Lawrence Lindell balancing his instincts as a sound designer with his gift for off kilter melodies. Closing with the epic “Magic Megaphone,” Lindell creates his most overtly cinematic track. This is the sort of thing that a gifted sci-fi film maker could craft an entire universe around.

Lawrence Lindell’s Magic Megaphone will be out February 24, you can pre-order it here.