Beacon - L1 EP

Beacon

"L1 EP"

Release date: 01 December 2014

8.5/10

26 November 2014, 11:30 | Written by Kate Travers

(Albums)

(Beacon)

“The motion of bodies and its causes” – that is the premise of the branch of physics known as kinetics. It’s also the primary line of inquiry for anyone hoping to make a great dance record. What makes bodies move? Beacon seem to have an obsession with bodies and motion: from their first EP No Body back in 2011, followed by For Now (EP) and The Ways We Separate (LP), both respectively illustrated with images of bodies erotically locked together or being sawn in half, this band situate their ethereal beat-making in a web of movement and physical connection. So, it’s not surprising that their latest EP, L1, should be named after a concept from gravitational physics known as Lagrangian points, which allow a satellite to orbit the earth as it travels around the sun, synchronising its own movements with planetary bodies.

Beacon's characteristic blend of gossamer vocals, rattling beats, minimal synth and “big, thunderous rap bass” leaves their music suspended somewhere in the space between House, R&B and ambient electronica; always brushing up against genre boundaries, but never crossing them. On L1, the duo occupy this liminal space and fill it with menacing, relentless basslines, hooks that crawl down your spine and swells that blossom and diffuse like ink on water. “Fault Lines” is propelled by an almost manic energy, while “Better Love” is pensive and shimmers with seductive charm. “L1” has a back beat that could be borrowed from 90s R&B, but projects a sense of isolation that is simultaneously mournful and beautiful.

Enough with the similes and imagery for a moment. This kind of deeply conceptual project might be exactly the type of music you would expect to be produced by two alumni of Brooklyn's Pratt Institute - the NYC equivalent of Central Saint Martins. But Beacon are not all headspace and cerebral conceptualisations - and L1 is not just 20 minutes of synth-laden froideur. Beneath the cold, electronic exterior of this EP there is music with a beating heart, music that feels like it is in perpetual motion, music that makes your body want to move. L1 pulls you in with a kind of irresistible kinetic energy that puts your body in motion.