Plus

Luomo aka Vladislav Delay, Sistol, Uusitalo -- under a raft of names Finnish artist Sasu Ripatti has in the past experimented with ambient, broken beat, glitch as well as grooves and house music with soulful vocals, working with Scissor Sisters, Black Dice, Apparat, Craig Armstrong, Massive Attack, Robert Owens and Towa Tei. Luomo is about experimenting with pop music, a big influence for Ripatti, and bringing it into a fusion of house, disco and electronica. Plus is Luomo's fifth album, taking the songwriting abilities of Ripatti to a new level, dwelling deep into first generation Chicago house and the pop sensibilities of '80s London, coupled with his impeccable crossover pop appeal. Never going for a one formula approach, Plus has a distinct Luomo sound -- hypnotic, sexy and delicately insistent, rhythms following a self-movement and never standing still. Conquering the world of electronics with a hi-tech approach, Plus grabs the listener mostly because of the soul infused into the works. Sometimes cold and brittle, at other times warm and ductile, the deeply-layered backgrounds make way for outstanding vocal performances which are this time credited to the cryptically-named Chicago Boys, a boy group of more or less known vocalists. Songs like "Good Stuff" and "Shy" are pure pop-bliss, while "Form In Void" and "Twist" shimmer in glacial electronics and gliding synths, all keeping the focus on the organic vocals to extend the album's scope and reach far beyond expectations. The less song-focused, synth-driven tunes like "Medley Through" and "How You Look" are undoubtedly reflecting the early Luomo sound from Vocal City (2000) and The Present Lover (2003), and combined with his finest songwriting makes a cohesive album which actually can and should be listened to as one whole piece.