Within their first few albums, bands must grapple with the concept of artistic growth while staying true to what defined them as unique in the first place. It’s a fulcrum on which the group’s trajectory hinges, and what allows for daring creative exploits, as well as the occasional misstep. For Lunar Vacation, this intersection comes as they focus on moving past surf influenced jams into something more opaque. The band’s new four-song EP Artificial Flavors is more inventive than their previous work, while still displaying the same charm as their 2017 debut Swell. Still, the expanded sound doesn’t feel as much like a final destination as it does an aperitif of the band’s growing potential.

Lunar Vacation - Artificial Flavors

Most of the changes to Lunar Vacation’s sound are musical flourishes that reward the careful listener’s attention, but don’t shift the band’s dreamy dynamic. Still, the evolving palette of sounds on Artificial Flavors—from buoyant synth lines to psychedelic vocal effects—delicately pulls the band into new territory less reliant on surf-pop orthodoxy, and more focused on an emotional resonance detached from genre. What initially drew me to the band, the interplay between Grace Repasky’s voice and the hypnotic melodies of guitarist Maggie Geeslin, is still front and center amidst the growing complexity of John Michael Young’s synth work and Connor Dowd’s understated drumming. But Repasky’s voice is more crystalline and direct here than on Swell. It’s obvious in the lush production that the group took full advantage of their time in the studio, but the EP relies on much more than simple studio trickery. Anyone who’s caught the band live or seen their recent Toast and Jam session knows how finely tuned the chemistry is between the five-piece, which is really what that makes Artificial Flavors sparkle, and why these four tracks, even if they were a collection of basement demos, would still brim with the same entrancing magic.

For such a short effort, the EP covers a lot of ground, thanks in most part to Repasky’s gentle pirouettes between soaring vocals and plaintive lulls. This dichotomy works especially well on “Slowdown,” an insistent, cascading track which chronicles the confusion, uncertainty, and isolation found throughout life and relationships. Echoes of Au Revoir Simone and Warpaint are scattered throughout the record, but Lunar Vacation’s sound is more bright and sprightly than most of their dream-pop compatriots. Unlike so many records that rely on lush instrumentation and not much else, the density of Artificial Flavors demonstrates Lunar Vacation’s subtle aptitude for pushing the art form beyond easy fodder for coffee shop Spotify mixes into something more sophisticated, but just as tranquil.

More Info
Bandcamp: lunarvacationatl.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @lunarvacationatl
Instagram: @lunarvacationmusic
SoundCloud: @lunarvacation
Twitter: @lunar_vacation