Animatronics

Mattias Östling makes a welcome return to Love Love as Rolando Simmons for new LP Animatronics after recent forays on Analogical Force and Furthur Electronix and nearly 8 years on from his Love Love debut World Building. Hailing from rural Sweden, Östling creates understated but rich and dreamlike productions which have seen him become a familiar name beyond the braindance circles his music first found a home in, recently playing live at venues in the UK like Fold and Houghton Festival.

As is characteristic of Rolando Simmons' work, a strong sense of narrative runs throughout this LP. Animatronics stylistically plays across the gamut of Electronica, from the lush, playful braindance of 2nd track 'Purple Soap', to the upbeat syncopated rhythms within 'GlobalGroove Dust Club', and the slowly advancing icy ambient techno dirge of closer 'Memory Defrost'. The ephemeral ambient elements laced throughout allude to a sense of comfortable sedation but darker shades no doubt loom beneath. Measured in its operation and warm in its presentation, the album often steers into unknown spaces, moving through a range of tonal shifts, all the while feeling contained within a unified and detailed imaginary world.