L. Pierre – The Island Come True

Aidan Moffat’s fourth LP as L. Pierre is perhaps the most boldly ambitious and abstract yet: eschewing the electronica which supplemented the field recordings and samples used on previous outings, The Island Come True instead revolves entirely around those elements. The samples – including classical melodies, drum loops, and mournful vocal cries – are here allowed to speak for themselves. 
 
Island consequently draws upon the haunting, evocative power of the same type of source material, simply repeated and layered, that drives The Caretaker’s work; Moffat is also obsessed with what he calls “the grit and hiss of old recordings.” Here, however, he emphasises definition and space, allowing the funereal melodies on pieces like Harmonic Avenger to the forefront, rather than burying them within layers of delay and reverb. As such, Island evinces – in an instrumental form – the same disarming vulnerability and emotional frankness which characterises Moffat’s vocal-based work.