Tropics / Soft Vision

Planet Mu

The man behind Tropics is Chris Ward, a 22-year-old Brit inspired by '70s jams, post-punk and whatever else he taped in his youth. His radiant sounds of dreamy, summer nostalgia have already caught the attention of Pitchfork and XLR8R (who have posted some of his tracks) as well as a number of bands including Little Dragon, with whom he will collaborate on his forthcoming album. Soft Vision is an utterly gorgeous, slow-motion mix of influences that sounds like sustained euphoria. Lead track "Give It Up" features chugging, slow-motion disco with ghostly female vocals and chiming bell-like melodies. "Melorr" is even slower, grinding gently under the weight of its own airy compression, adding more and more elements as the track evolves: voices, electric guitar and ghostly wisps of melody. The EP's title track is the one that got Tropics all the attention, with its lush production and '80s feel. It sounds like it's in 3-D: huge waves of synths shimmer and ooze through the track as it subtly grooves along to drums that wouldn't sound out of place on an '80s stadium pop hit.

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