Album Review: FaltyDL - Hardcourage

Make no mistake about it; this is a confident, Neil Armstrong sized step up. Those who have followed the aptly named Drew Cyrus Lustman over his two previous albums and gazillion EPs are familiar with his inclination to flit indiscriminately between garage, Chicago style house and future-bass. They know his ability to blend and blur genre conventions into an individual style that's always recognisable despite its restless evolution. What will astound his loyal acolytes is the absolute mastery he's attained over this patented form. 

While its author is no stranger to the dancefloor, Hardcourage is not so much a club banger, more a soundtrack for a post-clubbing aftermath (or possibly a prelude to another kind of energetic, night time activity). Lustman has always possessed a knack for crosshatching catchy rhythms, but never before has he intertwined his elements with such seductive suppleness. She Sleeps, a slinky groover with shimmering vocals from Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane, should have bras unhooking all across Australia. Hearts will begin to pound when the undulating male falsetto sample flickers furtively through Straight & Arrow. But perhaps what makes this Lustman's most entrancing release to date is the sheer depth of feeling that ripples through instrumentals such as Uncea and the closing Bells, which could be some kind of tone poem for an unspoken love.

He's put in the hard yards, and now Lustman is perhaps only one sizable hit away from receiving some well earned prime time. He's pushed the door open, let's welcome him through.