Stumbleine ft. Violet Skies – Dissolver

Stumbleine's production is undeniably more deep and beautiful than ever on this full-length collaboration with Violet Skies, not least in the way he treats the vocal melodies – on opener Thunderdome, the drifting, layered vocal takes seem to drift like smoke, while Stumbleine's beats, full of reverb-heavy pops and clicks, weave in and out. Shoegaze and dream-pop guitar textures on Sunset Boulevard and other tracks are also breathtakingly recorded and presented.

What lets this project down are the hackneyed, uninspiring, pedestrian vocals of Violet Skies – one look at her track titles (One Step Closer, Baby Don't Go) tells you all you need to know about the generic, insipid approach she employs to her lyrics. Her vocals, while well produced, have all the uniqueness and originality of an X-Factor wannabe, and are utterly predictable. It's a sad waste of Stumbleiene's talents, making his dreamy post-dubstep merely a canvas for uninspired, coffee table blandness.[Bram E. Gieben]