Build

The fifth album by this electronic jam band illustrates how Lotus has transformed from a free-flowing late-night experience into a diamond-hard and precise ensemble, seeking new ways to drive its music into a more aggressive sphere. The prog-rock of "What Did I Do Wrong" fits together with several bold instrumental pieces that never lay back but scream for more, more, more. This is an album for the hard-dancing crowds that liken electronica to the survival of the fittest. The urgent swoops of "Uffi" blend nasty synthetic keyboard lines with an organic trilling organ, which moves in and out of the mix with its call to hippy times. The drums take an active role, adding a sense of tension to the headstrong riff guiding the album's first single, "Massif." "Cutinuo" has a sense of minimalism, while "Ashcon" ventures near dubstep. Build is intended to be the first of a trilogy, with the albums to follow reaching back to the group's laidback roots and into hip-hop.