The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Week
  • Books + Movies
  • About
16
new
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DREADNOUGHTS – ROLL AND GO
SPILL NEW MUSIC: ARKELLS ANNOUNCE ‘BLINK TWICE’ TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 23 | SUMMERTIME SINGLE “DANCE WITH YOU” FEATURING CŒUR DE PIRATE AND ALY & AJ OUT NOW
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: THE STEENS – “WHAT A WAY TO DIE”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: CHECK OUT DANCE PUNKS DATAROCK’S COMEBACK SINGLE “DOUBLE VISION” OUT NOW VIA YAP RECORDS
SPILL NEW MUSIC: SHE WANTS REVENGE’S JUSTIN WARFIELD RELEASES SOLO SINGLE “EVERYTHING TO ME”
SPILL NEWS: THE MARS VOLTA RELEASE TRACK & SHORT FILM “BLACKLIGHT SHINE” | THE BAND’S FIRST NEW SINGLE IN OVER A DECADE
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: WEIMAR – DANCING ON A VOLCANO
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: STRANGE LOT – “FUNNY SOUNDS”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: THE SAVANTS OF SOUL – “SPOT AT THE TOP”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: BROKE ROYALS – “ALL I HAVE TO SHOW”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: WORK WIFE & MARY HOOD – “DROWN ME OUT”
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DYLAN MOON – OPTION EXPLORE
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: VOX SOMNIA – “SINS”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: MICKEY MOONE – “COME ON BABY”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: PLASTIC HARPOONS – “DIAMOND WINGS”
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: LONDON PLANE – BRIGHT BLACK
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Week
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Week
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
234
previous article
Album Review: Uberbyte - Five Year Plan
next article
Album Review: Of Montreal - Daughter of Cloud

Album Review: The Luyas – Animator

The Luyas
Animator
Paper Bag Records
RATING

From the earliest moments of Animator, The Luyas create a scene of natural beauty from the most unexpected instruments. A stuttering drum machine, recorded with a touch of reverb, evokes the sound of stalactites dripping water into reflecting pools, and the heraldry played on a flute suggests Popul Vuh’s ’70s collaborations with filmmaker Werner Herzog. Instead of building on this riff, however, “Montuno” morphs into a flurry of violins that sounds both menacing and oddly comforting.

The rest of Animator balances between these moods of heraldry and despair. While The Luyas have a gift for melody and arrangement – the building blocks of great Pop music, to be sure – the extensive lengths of the songs and the recurring musical themes give it the heft of a more substantial work. The most accessible song from this album, “Fifty Fifty,” sounds like a mashup of a spy-movie theme song (with its propulsive bassline) and the background music for the most awesome ’70s Sesame Street animated short ever. The band’s work sounds even more satisfying when they draw on a tribal rhythm or a drumbeat that sounds like natural phenomena and build a groove from it. The shuddering beat and keyboard riff that permeate “Your Name’s Mostly Water” suggest the unmoored emotions that come with new love.

Song lyrics are hard to understand. Lead singer Jessie Stein comes off as a post-millennial Blossom Dearie, singing in a girlish high soprano with a slight lisp and soft diction. Producer Pietro Amato recorded her vocals in a noticeable echo, and her voice is mixed as another instrument instead of being pushed to the fore in the tradition of a Rock vocalist. At times Stein’s voice serves as a human scale for the musical peaks and valleys surrounding her. The few snatches of lyrics that float to the surface further the sense of unease permeating the album.

According to the liner notes, Animator was written in part as a tribute to a friend of the band who died suddenly. The music – which both imparts an epic quality and a detailed sense of intimacy – is one of the kindest tributes to a fallen friend, and one that serves this friend’s memory well.

Chelsea Spear (Twitter @two_ontheaisle)

paperbagrecords.com/artists/the-luyas/

amazon.ca/gp/product/B008YEX6CI/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=330641&creativeASIN=B008YEX6CI&linkCode=as2&tag=thespillmagaz-20

Item Reviewed

Album Review: The Luyas – Animator

Author

Chelsea Spear

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
5.0
—
4.0
Total Spill Rating
—
Total Fan Rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewsanimatorthe luyas
album reviews, animator, the luyas
About the Author
Chelsea Spear
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviews
 
8.0
The Dreadnoughts

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DREADNOUGHTS – ROLL AND GO

by Michelle Cooney on June 24, 2022
The Dreadnoughts Roll And Go Stomp Records The Dreadnoughts have been baptized with a variety of classifications, from “cluster folk” to “polka punk” to “ciderpunk”. Their new album, [...]
 
8.0
Dylan Moon

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DYLAN MOON – OPTION EXPLORE

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 17, 2022
Dylan Moon Option Explore RVNG Intl. Anybody who had a chance to hear Dylan Moon’s initial album Only the Blues, from 2019 might be taken aback by what is in the grooves (or bits) [...]
 
8.0
The Dream Syndicate

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DREAM SYNDICATE – ULTRAVIOLET BATTLE HYMNS AND TRUE CONFESSIONS

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 10, 2022
The Dream Syndicate Ultraviolet Battle Hymns And True Confessions Fire Records The Dream Syndicate came, dropped a few brilliant modern psych [...]
 
8.0
Wardruna

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: WARDRUNA – KVITRAVN – FIRST FLIGHT OF THE WHITE RAVEN

by Samantha Wu on June 10, 2022
Wardruna Kvitravn – First Flight Of The White Raven Music For Nations/Sony Music/Columbia Germany/Bynorse Einar Selvik is the storyteller and mastermind [...]
 
8.0
The Fixx
9.6

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE FIXX – EVERY FIVE SECONDS

by Aaron Badgley on June 3, 2022
The Fixx Every Five Seconds The Orchard/BFD/JARC Records The Fixx made their debut in 1982 with their debut album Shuttered Room. Of course, they had formed earlier and paid their dues [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DREADNOUGHTS – ROLL AND GO
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DYLAN MOON – OPTION EXPLORE
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DREAM SYNDICATE – ULTRAVIOLET BATTLE ...
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: WARDRUNA – KVITRAVN – FIRST FLIGHT ...
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE FIXX – EVERY FIVE SECONDS
8.0
9.6

Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Week
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2022 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL FEATURE: CRUISE TO THE EDGE 2022 – THIS YEAR’S PROG CRUISE MAKES A LOT OF NOISE. A WHOLE LOT OF NOISE.
739
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PRIMUS – CONSPIRANOID
577
 
SPILL FEATURE: DON’T YOU FEEL CLOSER? – A CONVERSATION WITH CY CURNIN OF THE FIXX
574
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE FIXX – EVERY FIVE SECONDS
421
 
SPILL NEWS: BARENAKED LADIES TO RELEASE LIVE TRACKS FROM SOLD-OUT ROYAL ALBERT HALL SHOW | DELUXE EDITION OF ‘DETOUR DE FORCE’ OUT JUNE 3
340
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – UNLIMITED LOVE
330
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NAZARETH – SURVIVING THE LAW
325
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: LOST CAT – “L.O.S.T.”
324
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: JERRY CANTRELL w/ LOLA COLETTE @ HISTORY, TORONTO
321
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: NIGHTWISH w/ BEAST IN BLACK @ HISTORY, TORONTO
303
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LUCIUS – SECOND NATURE
283
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DOROTHY – GIFTS FROM THE HOLY GHOST
269
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FANTASTIC NEGRITO – WHITE JESUS BLACK PROBLEMS
263
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES