Limited edition silver vinyl.
Russian producer/musician Kedr Livanskiy returns with her expansive, timeless new record on which she pushes the boundaries of electronic songwriting. Liminal Soul plays like an opera as Livanskiy brings her crystalline voice to the forefront, channeling it into operatic choruses, looping falsetto, and one of her first full songs in English. This conviction is evident in the album’s instrumental arrangements as well - Livanskiy expertly fuses acoustic elements with electronic ones, deconstructing pop songwriting with Bjork-like prowess. The haunting vocal loop and house beat on lead single “Stars Light Up” sound almost underwater, distorting our sense of physical space and prompting us to “plunge into the night skies.”
On Liminal Soul she injects her infectious club beats with a dose of the natural, crafting a transcendent collection of deconstructed break pop. Contributions from Flaty and avant-electronic group Synecdoche Montauk on “Your Turn” and “Night” add texture to the album’s dancier tracks, while the use of older acoustic instruments on “Storm Dancer” and “Boy” add a sense of timelessness that furthers the otherworldly tone. From the angelic choral opener “Celestial Ether” to the moodier outro “Storm Dancer”, the listener enters a state of suspended reality where they are transported to dark cityscapes and verdant rural sprawls, futuristic societies and ancient ones, all in the same stroke. In the end, Livanskiy doesn’t propose a single path forward. The point, instead, is to make peace with the fluctuation itself.
