REVIEWSMatthew Dear, ‘Asa Breed’

7

• SPIN Rating:7 of 10

• • Listen:

    Spotify

Label: Ghostly International

Techno's earthy cousin microhouse is generally as unassuming as its name, but Michigan-based producer Matthew Dear infuses the snapping, beeping compositions of his second album with a sincere yearn, broadening the genre in the process. Dear's breathy, throaty voice has a stirring tunefulness that recalls TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe. Paired with downcast piano, guitar, and darkly funky rhythms, his enigmatic mantras and coded narratives (the album title nods to a Kurt Vonnegut character) deal in romantic desperation; but there's strange hope when he finally exclaims, "I've got to figure out love!"

Now Hear This: Matthew Dear - "Elementary Lover" DOWNLOAD MP3

BUY: