- Producer Seamus Malliagh quite literally crafts entire worlds with his sound. Debut record Neo Wax Bloom introduced listeners to the fictional land of Mamu, a realm existing inside Seamus’ mind where beings made of jelly playfully bounce around causing all sorts of absurdist mischief.
It’s quite an impressive feat then, that Iglooghost’s music matches this unique description. His works draw influence from all corners of the UK dance spectrum, animating vibrant textures within an endless onslaught of rhythms and breaks. Also notable is Malliagh’s knack for vocal manipulation, endlessly contorting both samples and his own contributions into a strange auditory landscape.
What’s presented here is effectively an album’s worth of material split into two halves; Steel Mogu and Clear Tamei. The former is front-loaded with walls of mammoth sub-bass and metallic percussive hits, while Tamei takes a more subdued approach, drawing influence from dream pop with a softer palette of sounds.
While this stylistic separation might suggest diversity on a surface level, there isn’t much in the way of innovation concerning Malliagh’s signature sound. All the elements present on Neo Wax Bloom continue to exist here, it’s just that the focused duality of melody and rhythm is now explicitly stated rather than implied.
Yet this clear division seems to concern aethestics alone, as there are lush synthetic arrangements all over Mogu and Tamei is full of fast-paced breaks. While I can appreciate Seamus’ works being differentiated in this format, it seems like there’s barely any effort made to explore the sonic possibilities available within each area.
Stylistic gripes aside, there’s no doubt Iglooghost is stilll an incredibly competent producer. Tracks like Niteracer and Black Light Ultra show the full extent of his technical prowess, conjuring ground shaking sub-bass to cut through a whirlwind of shattered vocals. The latter of these also features sampled vocals from rapper Danny Brown, whose nasal flow is warped and filtered beyond recognition, becoming yet another chaotic element in Iglooghost’s cartoon world.
It saddens me to say however, that this relentless complexity ends up feeling like less than the sum of its many, many parts. When you’re being subjected to an album’s worth of pixel-perfect drum programming atop garish synthesizer manipulation, it all begins to wash over you. Much of this can be put down to Malliagh’s lack of experience as a songwriter: this material is breathtaking in the moment, but I find not much of it sticks in my mind as distinctly memorable, even after multiple listens. It’s really a shame as there’s boundless potential showcased within these tracks, yet I persistently leave feeling thoroughly underwhelmed.
All in all, Steel Mogu and Clear Tamei just left me wanting more. As it stands, they sound more like a collection of refined Neo Wax Bloom offcuts than the wholistic continuation of Igloo’s sound I was hoping for. This isn’t helped by Seamus’ over-commitment to worldbuilding, which results in specific sounds being used re-used across tracks and projects to no end. As enamored as I am of his quirky sound and charming visual aesthetic, Seamus needs to take some serious steps forward for the next Iglooghost release to truly hold my attention.
- Boddhi Farmer.