Cast

Cast

Heathered Pearls’ 2015 album Body Complex explored the intersection of ambient and techno in sleek yet understated studies in rhythm and mood. Cast, the New York electronic musician’s third album, retreats further into the shadows, stripping away the beats and sinking into pulsing soundscapes that extend like shimmering halls of mirrors. Heathered Pearls (aka Jakub Alexander) spent his formative years in Michigan, and the influence of Detroit artists like John Beltran and Neil Ollivierra’s Detroit Escalator Co. is audible in the flickering chords of tracks like “Caveat Emptor” and “Ultra Blue.” A gently nostalgic air colors tracks like “Utica,” which turns vocal sampling to wistfully whimsical ends, while the rumbling “ASMR / Exhaustion” extends down a more darkly atmospheric path. A handful of spoken-word contributions from friends and peers like Terrence Dixon, Baltra, and Nick Murphy, meanwhile, lend the album its engrossing sense of interiority: In these moments, following Cast’s mazelike progressions feels like journeying deep into the mind.

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