During the 2010s,
Genevieve Artadi
achieved viral fame as half of
KNOWER
, a Los Angeles-based duo playing a complex, catchy mixture of tight jazz-funk and maximalist EDM-pop. She's been busy with a multitude of other projects, from
Pollyn
(a trip-hop/new wave-influenced trio who were active until 2016) to the Brazil-based pop duo
Expensive Magnets
, as well as guest appearances on releases by
Snarky Puppy
,
Jacob Collier
cohort
Louis Cole
, and many others. In between all of this, she's found time to work on solo material that doesn't fit in with her other projects. Following a fragmentary 2015 debut, the self-released
Genevieve Lalala
, her second album arrived on
Brainfeeder
after
Cole
brought it to the label's attention.
Dizzy Strange Summer
hopscotches between moods and genres, reflecting the rapidly changing mindstate of a busy, productive person living in a world that is constantly in flux. She has a particular knack for expressing panic and instability in a way that seems more playful than cathartic. Opener "I Hate When I Can't Feel My Heart" is entirely a cappella, with
Artadi
's multi-tracked vocals providing rhythm, harmonies, and anxious yet controlled lyrics. The lyrics to "Edge of the Cliff" suggest that she's on the verge of losing it, but her vocal delivery is much softer and more nuanced than the swaggering industrial-dancehall beat booming behind her. A sax solo by
David Binney
spirals out of nowhere, providing the song's most unbound moment. During "Living Like I Know I'm Gonna Die," she ponders where her life is headed over a fizzing mid-tempo beat and light funk bass, and "Loneliness Grows" is an airy trip-hop number in which she calmly confesses that her life is out of control. "Nowhere to Go" and "oo ya" both contrast skittering, racing drum machines and twisted bass patterns with more soothing vocals, resulting in some of the album's most gleefully bonkers material. Breaking from all the madness, "All I Want for Now" is a gorgeous dream pop lullaby that sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a well, and the more acoustic "Before the Dark" is similarly hushed and delicate. As if to save things from getting too precious, she caps this bizarre, intriguing journey with "cupcake5," a short keyboard outro that sounds like the soundtrack to a goofy animated video designed by an eight-year-old. ~ Paul Simpson