For a little over a decade now, the funk-futurist Mono/Poly has continued to challenge himself and his listeners by not allowing his music to become easily predictable. From the flayed open and prickly din of 2010’s Paramatma to the soft constellation flight making up the recently released Messages from the Cosmic Sea LP, the Brainfeeder affiliate has proven to be an advocate of making immersive music that isn’t safely pinned into a single form. The freshly pressed EP, AS LONG AS THAT LOVE IS DIVINE sees the Cali–based creator spool together chest-thumping sub-bass rhythms, glitchy sparks of sound, and shimmering synths over the course of two mesmerizing instrumentals.
Title track “As Long As That Love Is Divine” opens with warm chords and spacey textures that invite you to let your guard down and drift into Mono/Poly’s vivid galaxy of sound. However, it doesn’t take long for the lightly glimmering beauty of those opening moments to wave in a pounding boom-tick beat and a low-growling bass, both of which quickly bogart their way to that part of the brain responsible for making you want to dance. It’s almost supernatural how smoothly this song switches back and forth from feeling sparsely cosmic to feeling almost overwhelming with all of its moving parts. The energy of “B-side” track “5.23.19” follows an ebb and flow structure similar to “As Long As…”, but spends most of its time in a “cluttered & chugging” lane. Calmer points arrive during the song’s opening and closing moments, but on the whole “5.23.19” feels more jagged than its roommate and serves as a tensely drawn “yin” to the zoned-out “yang” of the title track.
You can listen to As Long As That Love Is Divine right now, on all streaming services, courtesy of Mono/Poly Media.
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