“Over six years and four previous albums, Slow Dancing Society, aka Drew Sullivan, has pretty much become a household name in ambient music and a stalwart of the Hidden Shoal label. Laterna Magica sees the artist continuing in much the same vein as before, and continuing to reap the rewards.
A lot of genres meet in Slow Dancing Society’s music. Opener “A Few Moments” initially recalls Stars of the Lid’s crystalline, skyscraping ambience. Shimmering notes stretch out, punctuated by hammers of piano ringing out like bells. But even here there comes a pulsating bass line, albeit briefly, for a moment injecting tension and motion that might be more at home in minimal electronica. Such percussive elements appear more often on Laterna Magica than on previous albums, introducing a number of tracks and adding gentle rhythms to elongated strings and synths of “After the Twilight Takes Us”, “” and others. In most cases they do not disturb the album’s stratospheric quality, with reverb and delay making the clicks and pops just as ephemeral as the other sounds. Later though, “Pieces of Your Presence” is much more earthbound, comprised mainly of a low, rich stutter and a rhythm that this time seems to anchor rather than join the push skywards. The surrounding winds of ambience seem to try and lift the piece but never quite manage it.
This sort of variety and motion has always been one of Slow Dancing Society’s strengths. Although there are tracks that clearly stick out from the whole album – such as “I’ll Leave a Light On” with its active melodies and aggressive forward momentum – Laterna Magica is still just about unified by its general soaring tone and the instrumental sounds used are generally the same, even if they are used in several different ways. And so clear, defined guitar work reminiscent of mid-2000s post-rock pared down and stretched out (it is nice to be reminded that ambience doesn’t always have to equal mountains of effects and abstract washes) sits beside the aforementioned “Pieces of Your Presence” thanks to the echoing percussion and synth shimmers that accompany them both.
An apparent obsession with light is also continued here. Laterna Magica means ‘magic lantern’, making it the third Slow Dancing Society album to reference light in its title (The others being The Sound of Lights When Dim and Under the Sodium Lights), not to mention numerous individual tracks. Sullivan’s music is well suited to the theme. With slick production leaving so few rough edges it sounds almost otherworldly its smooth sonic planes gleaming at every touch of sunlight in a way that would make latter-day Hammock proud. If Laterna Magica seems to be flying through the sky so often, it is the sun that is the goal, reaching for that brightest of lights. The album isn’t always fierce or as openly cheery as the metaphor allows, but it is warm and a note of hope, or even expectation of ‘something better’ (through a magic lantern perhaps) is always present.
It’s a testament to the strength of Slow Dancing Society’s sound that it’s still going strong after five albums with very little modification. Relying on individuality, some subtle shifts in focus and a varied musical palette Sullivan keeps his output fresh and highly listenable without the relentless pursuit of progress. Laterna Magica is accessible and engaging, and if Sullivan continues to make music like that then there should be little need to change the formula.
Matt Gilley”