Re:Gen online magazine posted a review of the latest Lovespirals album:
Ryan Lum and Anji Bee go big on their fourth full-length album, adding ‘70s blues and progressive rock elements to their chilled out soul-tinged electronica.
Their fourth album together is a step into a bigger sound for Ryan Lum and Anji Bee. The duo’s fascination for ‘70s soul and jazz is amplified in Lum’s production, with the Rhodes piano that gave 2007’s Long Way from Home so much of its signature warmth joined by lush, almost disco-tinged strings on the languid, smokey “Rain” and the laidback but funky “Water Under the Bridge.” The guitars are bigger too, the spaced out progressive instrumental “Meanwhile, Irreplaceable Time Flees” segueing into the wah-wah-laced soul of “Insignificant.” Bee’s voice is stronger, more mature, and more powerful this time around as well; Lum and Bee have a reputation for love songs, but “Feel So Good” and “Shine” are positively lusty, highlighting both Bee’s range and her sensuality. The real standout on this album, though, is “Home,” which is more reminiscent of earlier Lovespirals songs in its cozy romantic vibe but features the best singing the pair have ever recorded, with subtle multi-tracking enhancing an already impressive vocal showing.
While Future Past is undeniably warm throughout, there are also hints of the cooler, more dreamlike elements present in their earliest work. “Love” is the project’s most unabashedly electronic offering in years, all emphasis on the groovy breakbeats, and both “Shine” and “Believe” utilize softly insistent guitar strumming in the vein of Lum’s earlier project, Love Spirals Downward, in addition to the warmer grooves and subtle jazz instrumentation that characterize much of his work with Bee. The end result is an album that’s at once a leap forward and a fond glance back; the duo could hardly have picked a better title than Future Past.
— Matthew Johnson for regenmag.com
