Tycho
switched things up with 2019's
Weather
, which added lyrics to the project's vivid, guitar-driven electronic music for the first time.
Simulcast
reworked the same material in an instrumental format, often adding busier rhythms and more instrumental textures.
Infinite Health
,
's 2024 full-length, is somewhat of a return to form, as founder
Scott Hansen
decided to go back to the production methods of his earlier work. Containing some of
's most uptempo material,
focuses on rhythm, paying special attention to breakbeat-like choppy drums. Opener "Consciousness Felt" sprinkles vintage synth tones over a crunchy, summery alternative rock rhythm, which feels propulsive but expansive rather than locked-in. Other tracks are more overtly danceable, such as "Phantom," which has bubbly synths, disco beats, and
's signature ringing guitars, although they're a bit more muted this time. The accurately titled "Restraint" and the even more reserved "Green" step into a more introspective mode, but otherwise the album tends to feel more outwardly expressive. "Devices" flirts with the gloss and dreaminess of trance, while the title track is a sort of wonky chill-funk track veering closer to
Com Truise
's territory. The simmering "DX Odyssey" has some of the album's most gorgeous synth work, and the surging "Totem" is surprisingly aggressive-sounding for
, but in an '80s rock anthem way, filtered through production inspired by French house.
Hansen
's music generally looks for different ways to approach familiar elements, and
offers enough variation on his style so that it doesn't seem like he's covering old ground, even though it's actually some of his most nostalgic work. ~ Paul Simpson