Nicolas Jaar released several recordings in 2020, and while the ones bearing his own name are sparse, often difficult ventures into modern composition, his material as Against All Logic continues to focus on exploratory club constructions. Preceded by Illusions of Shameless Abundance, an intriguing two-track single which featured guest appearances from FKA twigs and no wave legend Lydia Lunch, Jaar released 2017 - 2019, A.A.L.'s second full-length. While 2012 - 2017 was a springy, sometimes giddy collection of disco-house cuts and tinges of rave nostalgia, the follow-up's mood is a bit more complex. It isn't entirely accurate to say that this album is a total plunge into darkness, but it's certainly not as joyous as its predecessor. It's significantly more challenging, with a stranger array of sounds, more cutting edits and noise interjections, and textures that border on electro-industrial. However, it's more concise and focused, clocking in at a solid 45 minutes (excluding the LP edition, which contains a bonus "Vinyl-Only Edit") and several tracks seamlessly run into each other, sustaining the album's nervy energy. Echoing the frequent soul and R&B samples on the first A.A.L. album, opener "Fantasy" chops up the voices of Beyoncé and Sean Paul (from their collaboration "Baby Boy"), generally treating their vocals as instruments but occasionally returning to key phrases ("Stay on my mind," "I know you gonna like it"), while noisy beats flap around and what sounds like an imitation of a stringed instrument such as a koto plucks a delicate melody. "If Loving You Is Wrong" (based on a sample of the 1972 Luther Ingram hit) is a bit steadier, but still riddled with tripped-up edits and tense, edgy distortion. "With an Addict" is an atmospheric drum'n'bass/footwork hybrid, with detached, glitchy breaks clattering weightlessly around a normal-paced hip-hop sample which seems to casually stroll through it all. Lunch makes another excellent guest turn on "If You Can't Do It Good, Do It Hard," spitting righteous venom over a menacing electro beat. Just as electrifying is the spaced-out yet caustic "Deeeeeeefers," which goes wild with delay effects, pushing its cosmic bassline and insistent thuds into the stratosphere. "Penny" is much airier, bringing back the koto-like plucks and sprinkling soft synth melodies over an ecstatic yet reigned-in tempo. While nowhere near as accessible or crowd-pleasing as the first A.A.L. album, 2017 - 2019 is a compelling mixture of anger and beauty, and one of Jaar's strongest efforts. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		Fantasy
2		If Loving You Is Wrong
3		With an Addict
4		If You Can't Do It Good, Do It Hard
5		Alarm
6		Deeeeeeefers
7		Faith
8		Penny
9		You (Forever)
10		Vinyl-Only Edit

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