Atlas Sound: Logos

The key to deciding the worth of any release by Bradford Cox has always been a case of deciding whether the mass amount of reverb, delay and many other effects help to create a masterpiece or simply masked mediocrity?

His previous album, Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, seemed to fall into the category of genius according to the majority of people, ourselves included. Yet with the up and coming release Logos being, if anything, more heavily laden with effects, the question remains whether they are still the working marvel behind the experience we have come to expect? And how much more of the Atlas Sound world they may reveal this time.

Where the last album used its effects to build quite a surreal and a dark world of deep self-reflection. Logos - on the other hand, though the surrealism is still there to a certain degree - seems to spend much of the time focusing on concepts which point to awe. Of course this is brought across by the marvellously moulded use of the guitar and other instrumentation besides the computer. It is first seen in full bloom on the third track "Walkabout" where the visceral melding of guest vocalist Noah Lennox (Panda Bear/Animal Collective) with Cox is the cherry on top of the towering, unbarring percussive pulses and bubble-like melodies, which are worthy answers to the Questioning lyrics "what did you want to see?" and "what did you want to be when you grew up?" which become ever clearer as they are repeated until the time arrives for the track to fade away into the distance.

Yes, now Cox, rather than leaving much implied as was the case in Let the Blind... seems to be looking for sure answers to the questions he's posing which is brought to light once again in "Criminals" where he asks presumably to someone who has committed a crime "why do you live this way?" And the reminiscences featured on "Attic Lights" where Cox speaks clearly about the sense of smell, and the superlative degrees of objects, appear to point to this approach also. Then clearer still is the message sent via the fantastic "Sheila" where is uttered definitely the statement, that "no one wants to die alone". And thus he seeks to supply the solution by his want for a companion.

What was done before is only improved upon in Logos And what could not be improved makes a valid and welcome return. Such are the delights on "Quick Canal" which is almost (at least musically) the natural successor to "Quarantined", where once more can be heard that throbbing bass-line in the background with want of release, and also the second of two guest appearances, this time by the gracious voice of Laetitia Sadlier (Stereolab). Further making a return is the out-of-sync double tracking of vocals featured on the last track, which shares its title with the album.

On the Atlas Sound wiki page the reason for his solo project is explained, it mentions: "In explaining his reasoning for a solo project, Cox has stated, 'It's just that I have ideas that I can't make work with a five piece rock band'". Certainly the limiting of Atlas Sounds to a solo bedroom project does seem to have had profound effect on Bradford Cox's musical imagination, that is to say that there is still not a single half-hearted track to mention from his solo career.

With the release of 'Logos' has come the further realisation: Atlas Sounds is indeed not just a world but a full-blown universe!