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A Magazine for Sheffield

Luneworks

Dublin’s Jack Colleran, aka Mmoths (the first M is silent), has been quietly working on his debut proper for Because Music/OYAE after the release of two excellent instrumental EPs in 2012 and 2013. A concept record that’s the product of its creator being holed up in Los Angeles after a turbulent break up, Luneworks channels the hazy spirit of Kevin Shields through a filter of lush electronics and pulsating beats. Its lead single, ‘Deu’, ebbs and flows from Bonobo-style chill-out to Boards of Canada-inspired drones with quiet confidence.

At its peaks, Luneworks can be stellar, a crystalline, carefully considered record that avoids the pitfalls of over-complexity and cliché by detailing every element of the textures explored. Though it can sometimes slip into repetition, and a few of the vignettes that punctuate the album can feel somewhat underwhelming, the longer excursions into beat-driven ambience are genuinely interesting. I found myself returning to the suite that closes the album, ‘Naoka’ (Parts 1 and 2), multiple times and am yet to grow tired of its shimmering haze.

Mmoths may be relatively new in terms of his presence in the British electronic music scene, and he may struggle to find a place for his niche sound in an environment increasingly dominated by macho posturing, but as a standalone record, Luneworks is a grand statement, a self-assured debut with all the hallmarks of an artist with something big up his sleeve.