In 2018 my creative world still felt compartmentalized, like the gas at the birth of the universe hadn’t quite condensed yet. Now after almost 7 years, this said world of new music and production techniques have become much more associated and familiar with one another in my mind. From Mid-Air Thief’s signature tremolo on all of Crumbling, to stylistic analog/tape emulation of various digital plugins, to glitch and sample stutter-like automation, to my recently epiphanized ear candy of birds chirping, and so on. Salami Rose Joe Louis’s new release, Lorings features this same host of signature approaches to sound and electronic music overall, wrapped up in a kind of love letter to those with ~87,292 unfinished projects sitting dutifully in their DAW. (Not actually that many, lol.)

The contemporary trend of releasing small EPs with 5 or less songs that range from ~1:40 to 2 minutes each has a tough time reconciling with my bleeding heart upbringing of prog rock epochs and jazz. The investment and storytelling that comes from songs that are 7+ minutes long has always been an element of my taste, whether there be lyrics or not. When I started listening to this record earlier today, this sense began to rear its apprehension. However, after deciding to put out an initial review on a whim in an attempt to capture a little inspiration, I started to think how I could recontextualize my thoughts on releases that feature many short songs, like Lorings does. This record provides a perfect solution; its not an EP, its a full-length running at just over 43 minutes. It really does feel like an artist’s archetypal purge of rough ideas, perhaps closing a period of a lack of releases due to perfectionism. I don’t believe such is the case with Salami Rose Joe Louis, aka Lindsay Olsen, as she’s put out a considerable amount of releases over the last 9 or so years. Still, the feeling of sending off a mass amount of unfinished material into a mass compilation is sort of how this album came across initially. After getting a few tracks in, I found that Olsen’s choices for musical narrative have such depth to them, there’s almost this big sense of humor within them. Many times throughout the record there would be a change up in the middle of a track, where one might think a new song is coming on. This never once felt inappropriately abrupt, but always very cheeky and with a knack to make your ear turn in an exciting way. It simultaneously feels like Olsen is doing this to play with the very same concept of the modern short-track EP.

Although Lorings felt a little compartmentalized at first, the refinement of Olsen’s skills as a producer made it such an incredible joy to listen to. It’s extremely well crafted, and is absolutely a FESTIVAL of some of the greatest go-to production techniques of electronic music. With that being said, it never felt too dense or like there was ever a wall of sound going on (although that’s not necessarily a bad thing), it was always extremely chill and palatable. Definitely a record I think I’ll be able to sink into for a while. Amidst Olsen’s production skills, her vocals and writing on this record are just as enjoyable to listen to. May the 21st century continue to bless us and the music industry with more multi-talented musicians of Salami Rose Joe Louis’s caliber.