Album Review: The Acid - Liminal

Building significant chat firstly because of their initial mystique and secondly by the sum of their renowned parts – Aussie artist/producer RY X (Ry Cuming), British DJ/producer Adam Freeland and American professor/producer Steve Nalepa – The Acid made waves with a self-titled EP last year, from which Basic Instinct has become the calling card. By way of simple musical elements – a lonely kick drum, a nylon-stringed guitar melody and double-tracked vocals that intimately share every movement of Cuming's mouth – it's difficult to deny as it builds to a climax at once jagged, aching, fleeting and even a touch uncomfortable. It's also indicative of the album as a whole; full of organic crackles, nuances and instrumentation, Liminal's beauty lies in its ability to team these elements with minimalist electro that feels right at home via headphones or vinyl, from the depths of late nights in dark rooms.

"There's little attempt to demand attention across Liminal."

Though its main currency, it's not all delicately constructed gloom; there's an air of confidence through understated sexiness that begins with opener Animal – at times reduced to drum programming and the hum of a waiting microphone – mostly because of the droning, apocalyptic sample work. The eeriness of Ghosts is balanced by a killer vocal melody that will transpose well in a club environment. There's little attempt to demand attention across Liminal; it's a somewhat lonely body of work, though the sound bed of sparse yet dynamic moods demands repeat listens and great contemplation.