Bugland/Exoskeleton Blue Vinyl with Foldout Poster

Description

Canadian shoegazers No Joy are releasing their long-awaited fifth album, Bugland, on August 8. Today, the solo project of Jasamine White-Gluz marks their first new material in five years and also their debut for Sonic Cathedral. Bugland sees Jasamine Gluz-White teaming up with producer Fire-Toolz (aka Angel Marcloid) to create the sonic equivalent of a late-80s i-D magazine cover and a duvet cover, with a non-problematic National Geographic hidden inside. This was, at least in part, inspired by White-Gluz's move to a more rustic region of Quebec, which also explains the gap between albums. "The wait wasn't intentional," she explains, "but I think rural life made me disconnect from the noise of music and focus more on myself, writing, and taking my time." The collaboration with Fire-Toolz was inspired. The renowned future fusionist adds not only magical co-production but also other sonic/dance/noise/mysticism additions. "The collaboration really felt limitless," she enthuses. "I could easily relate to it because Jasamine and I loved a lot of the same music, and I was able to be creative in a way that was liberating, like making my own album." Both spent days driving on empty rural roads listening to mixes, and this is reflected in the final product. With an open ear, many "influence eggs" can be detected by the listener. 'Garbage Dream House' is zoooprien without any U2 ego baggage. The epic closing track 'Jelly Meadow Bright' even manages to fuse the uncontrollable saxophone of the Stooges' Fun House with the relaxing buoyancy of a high-end spa. It is not easy to approach respected and familiar genres and sounds while trying to advance one's own, but Bugland succeeds. What genre is it? Is it even shoegaze when it could happily live on a shelf next to Boards of Canada and Autechre? The right answer is "yes." What a beautiful shelf that would be, too. Bugland testifies to White-Gluz's evolution and her ability to channel a wide variety of tastes into something coherent that can sink into refined chaos, then emerge from that chaos with ease.