Description
2021, 2×12″ LP, Deutsche Grammophon. 45rpm.
Clark’s ninth studio album is arguably his most forward thinking, albeit the sound of Playground In A Lake has one foot in the classical tones of the past, while the other remains rooted in a futurism we expect from this techno, IDM, electro and electronica mogul. As much about mournful string serenades as science fiction synth adventures, it may not have been what most were expecting but it’s the album many of us needed. It’s a timeless outing, too – of course the album’s opening section sits firmly front and centre of a music historian’s gaze, and as we progress through the tracklist things seem increasingly interested in space age noises, but both influences, the past and the future, seem to reference one another. Take the delicate pianos of ‘Lambent Rag’ for example, which dissipate into the kind of arpeggiated keys many associated with dance music. A seriously essential purchase. – Juno