Finnish songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Jaakko Eino Kalevi hits the sweet spot between chillwave essence and post-Mac DeMarco yacht pop on his 2018 full-length Out of Touch. That album was warm, colorful, and slightly damaged, full of warped production, buried synthetic elements, and falsetto vocal hooks. Just a year after that friendly, slightly introspective set of tunes, Kalevi took a sharp, abrupt turn with the spaced-out funk of the seven-song mini-album Dissolution. While not completely losing his touch for synth-pop melodicism or wild production, the material here is edgier and colder, more minimal and less friendly. Hard dance rhythms move the tunes and where drippy, lackadaisical basslines once helped the songs find their groove, they're replaced on Dissolution with belching synths and hypnotic drum patterns. The spare funk of the title track and the repetitive post-punk of "I Am Looking Forward" come across like futuristic disco, with Kalevi delivering walls of tight vocal harmonies with a neurotic touch and just a hint of melodrama. There's a late-'70s/early-'80s glow to the spacy synths of "Uutiset," but the low-resolution production and distant nostalgia of the songwriting give the entire project a nebulous feel. Somewhere between throwback synth-pop and alien futurism, Dissolution becomes its own ephemeral entity, existing outside established time lines. Guest vocalist Yu-Ching Huang adds icy vocals to a few songs, putting on a perfectly detached, robotic persona for the coldwave posturing of "The Source of the Absolute Knowledge." Dissolution is a weird, uneasy ride, but it can be a lot of fun if listeners aren't hung up on trying too hard to figure it out. Moving from the bright climes of Out of Touch to the cold outer reaches of whatever Jupiter night club Dissolution takes place in is a bold switch-up, and not everyone is going to be on board for it. Kalevi's complete dedication to following his muse is respectable, however, and he perfects the weird space funk of Dissolution much like he made other styles his own on previous albums. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi

1		Out of Touch
2		Dissolution
3		I Am Looking Forward
4		Uutiset
5		The Source of the Absolute Knowledge
6		The Search
7		Conceptual Medierranean, Pt. 2

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