[Review] LINEA ASPERA Returns with Their Second Full-length LP, and It Has an Undeniably Contemporary Aspect ‣ CVLTARTES

After the quick end of Linea Aspera, Alison Lewis turned to her label Fleisch Records, the solo project Zanias and Keluar, a cooperation with Sid Lamar (Schwefelgelb).

In 2019, it finally came back and it was for sure unexpected. The band take a cue from the Cold Wave mood. Dissatisfied, disaffected and disenfranchised. But Linea Aspera have an undeniably contemporary aspect.

And the galaxy of stars
alight inside our eyes
can only fade
as it falls apart,
just like everything else does.

The first I’ve listened to it seemed strangely familiar. Almost as if it has always been there. Alison Lewis’s fascinatingly distant-looking vocals hovers above everything, which is indescribable on its own, but only in combination with Ryan Ambridge’s synth tinkering does it unfold its full potential. I fell in love with Linea Aspera after listening ‘Synapse’ for the 1st time… many moons ago.

Linea Aspera‘s second album is an attempt to reconcile deeply human experiences with concepts of physics and astronomy an with its sometimes high-pitched synths, seems almost happy, takes a slightly different approach, but in its own way sounds just as typical for this extraordinary band.