Track Review: Arrange – “North”

Around the time of the release of Malcom Lacey’s last EP, Five Years With The Sun, we noted that he had a kickstarter in place for the funding of his next full length New Memory. Just a few days ago we received the latest taste of that forthcoming record in this track “North.” It’s built around Lacey’s typical lower register whispery vocal take and characteristically sparse keyboard and drum production. Like before, he’s treading a line somewhere between the more ambient sides of M83 and more straightforward singer-songwriter inclinations. “North”, despite being situated in the midst of the latter third of the record, has the feel of a cathartic album closer. It seems like a floaty comedown from the downtrodden tracks that inevitably precede it on record. Even with it’s cheesier keyboard sound (I mean we’re not talking “Beth/Rest” levels of cheesy, but it’s certainly approaching that), the pure emotionality that Arrange bestows upon each of his songs still remains imminently clear. New Memory is still more than a month away, but with tracks like “North” and the previously released “Caves” to tide us over, we’ll certainly be able to survive the wait.