Lymbyc Systym - New Varieties [CD]

Written and recorded at the same time as their recent full-length Split Stones, the New Varieties EP continues Lymbyc Systym's exploration of the power of disparate halves coming together to form a unique whole. The idea serves as an analogy for brothers Jared and Mike Bell's long-distance relationship, as well as their compositions - a unique synthesis of live emotion and electronic precision. Picking up where their last album left off, the EP's upbeat opening track "Opposing Bodies" features the same melody found on "Scientific Romance", the final song on Split Stones. Exploring darker and more introspective territory, "Differential" features big reverberating snare hits, emulating the crack of a whip often heard in old Spaghetti Westerns. On the album's anthemic title track "New Varieties," the band brings back their powerful Clavinet sound paired against Brazilian influenced rhythms and cascading piano lines. The EP closes with Austin-based producer Botany's remix of "Opposing Bodies," turning Lymbyc's clean, head-bobbing rhythms and infectious arpeggios into a gauzy, mind-bending soundscape of smeared textures and chaotic rhythms.