ALBUM REVIEW – KIASMOS: II: Silent Radio

II is the second album from award-winning duo Kiasmos, comprised of electronic music producer Janus Rasmussen and composer Ólafur Arnalds. Together, they have created some of the most brilliant and emotionally charged minimal house and techno music of the last decade, resembling the early work of Aphex Twin and deadmau5.

Considering there’s been a 10-year gap between this new album and Kiasmos’ previous one, I can’t help but be disappointed that this is all they could offer fans as a follow-up to their near-perfect 2014 debut. Almost every track is mediocre in comparison, with creativity replaced by an unwanted void of mindless, unoriginal pop. Anything truly remarkable on this album is just copy-and-pasted elements from their previous one, like the beautiful textures Kiasmos has historically been so good at creating. It’s a shame the duo hasn’t progressed in their sound in a decade.

The record is also quite repetitive, especially towards the mid-section. This often makes for a boring listen, although sometimes the instrumental elements take an interesting turn, for example on “Burst”, where the synths start to get more intense near the outro of the song. However, this is a pattern that doesn’t occur very regularly.

Other tracks like “Flown” and “Dazed” highlight how this LP hasn’t brought anything new to house music that we haven’t heard before. Perhaps it would make for great background music, as there’s very little to appreciate in the details here, although I doubt Kiasmos deliberately set the bar this low.

Generally, II is a depressing follow-up to the duo’s last album, with nothing really special to highlight. While the ethereal elements of their sound remain intact, this record feels like they’re trying too hard to be clever and witty. The idea of ​​introducing pop elements into their music wasn’t ideal either, as it’s the main reason why each track feels so stripped down. It really wasn’t worth the decade-long wait.

Kiasmos: II – Released July 5, 2024 (Erased Tapes)

Kiasmos – Sailed (Official Music Video) (youtube.com)