Love and Other Solutions is
Antonelli Electr. at his most subtle and delicate. Not as geared to dancing as his two prior full-lengths, the productions here generally fall into the ambient pop realm with light dashes of clicks & cuts.
Electr. is particularly skilled at finding common ground between minimal house, pop, and IDM, as none of these eight tracks are tipped heavily -- with the exception of the occasional bump 'n' chug rhythm -- in any one of those particular directions. The melodies are equally simple and well-crafted, like the synth vamps that carry "Waiting for You" and the pair of smudgy, drawn-out notes that adorn "Shelter! Shelter!" The other tracks are even more reliant on subtle aspects; "Wordy" has a low-level hum that reverberates throughout, and "Tex" has the kind of swirling unease mastered by Olaf Dettinger. However, none of these moments prove to be a match for "Pictures," the best track on this perfectly concise album. Its tangle of several elements with disparate sounds, combined with dubby nuances, ranks favorably with
Electr.'s own productions as
A Rocket in Dub. Although
Love and Other Solutions teeters on the verge of being too subtle more than once, its inviting qualities truly come alive after you've settled into it.