Kelley Polar ‎– I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling

For those who follow Environ simply for Metro Area (like I used to), look again. Kelley Polar is truly taking it to the next level. The sound is still largely that of the disco rehashing and digitising the label is so well known for, but on "I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling", Kelley Polar clearly puts songwriting at equal - if not greater - importance with production. So one could then conjecture that what we have here is basically Metro Area with words. And while that is perhaps a most apt description, it severely understates the beauty and power of this album, for Kelley Polar's previous album on Environ, "Love Songs From The Hanging Gardens", could easily be painted with the same brush. So what separates the two? Focus. Where "Love Songs..." seemed to meander stylistically, "I Need You..." is more focused, with common undercurrents featured across the tracks, tightening the collection as an album. That said, there are some clearly exceptional moments here: the shimmering "Rosenband", which somewhat functions as the album title track (much like New Order's "Fine Time" on "Technique"); the aching "Satellites", showing us that not only Luomo can effortlessly pull off the mid song key change; and the infinitely funky "Sea Of Sine Waves", which will you floating blissfully long after it's over.

There are some easy criticisms of this album; the long-winded emo-sounding title, the exceedingly bright tone of the album, the too short feeling of many of the tracks. But really, these are all cheap shots. What we have here is a rarity in this day and age, and especially in the world of electronic music: a carefully constructed album that maintains brilliance and momentum throughout, without coming across (too) overly calculated or pretentious. It easily sits among the greatest albums of 2008, and possibly among the best in all of electronic music.