Bleep

Finishing off a year of top-shelf releases on Ghostly International, Com Truise is back with his signature sound of retro electronics on In Decay, Too.

More eagle-eyed fans will notice that the title of this record links it to In Decay, the 2012 compilation which brought together early Com Truise rarities with tracks from his Komputer Kasts series. In Decay, Too is no different - the sources of these tracks range from Soundcloud uploads to pieces made for Adult Swim’s Singles Club (‘Galactic Melt’).

Given the disparate array of sources, it’s remarkable how distinctive and uniform In Decay, Too is. Since emerging in the early 2010s, Com Truise mastermind Seth Haley has wowed with the project’s hypnagogic take on synth music. In this regard the tracks here are no different - all are vivid, 80s-indebted electronic compositions.

However, while the sonic palette remains relatively unchanged throughout, In Decay, Too is notable for demonstrating the wide range of modes that Com Truise is able to work in. One piece here may offer up chunky grooves indebted to Italo-Disco or Belgian New Beat, but soon after you can find yourself drifting through a woozy synthetic ambience or deep in an IDM-inflected electronics workout. Indeed, the way in which In Decay, Too ebbs and flows means that you could just as easily think you were listening to a series of tracks conceived as a single project as opposed to a collection of disparate musical compositions.

A compilation of rare tracks and hidden gems, In Decay, Too is a reminder that, when it comes to retro-tinged synth-wave thrills, there are few better than Com Truise.