Lane 8 made a return to his own This Never Happened imprint last month to release his fourth career studio album, Reviver. The American has become a leading force in his genre over the past few years, releasing tracks like The Rope, Road, and Run to the enjoyment of audiences in the 8-figure range. This time out he delivers more of the same sonic goodness that we have come to be fans of, blurring the lines between deep house, progressive, and trance through the use of uplifting vocals, energetic
melodies, softened piano keys, and tightly packed drum sounds. Features come in the form of Solomon Grey, Channy Leaneagh, and Arctic Lake, who are credited on two tracks each, as well as Emmit Fenn, who appears once. The stand out contributions are Arctic Lake on ‘What Have You Done To Me?’ And Channy Leaneagh on ‘I’ll Wait’. While the majority of the record is made up of house-leaning, euphoria-inducing club sounds, there are a few tracks which turn that narrative on its head, ‘Watermelon Wormhole’, ‘Closer’, and ‘Automatic’ still feature drums and suspenseful arrangements, but at a much more timid pace than some of the bigger tracks on the album, and one which modulates the intensity of things over the larger 56 minute run time. One of the best inclusions is the closing track, ‘I’ll Wait’, which combines the voice of Channy Leaneagh with broken drum rhythms to great effect. The echoing percussive hits, harmonising pitchslides of the synths, and voice of Channy creates an incredible production under the supervision of Lane 8.
Where to start:
Reviver: Fast and punchy blend of drums and melody
All I Want: Well measured vocals sit atop filtered synth lines
What Have You Done To Me?: Synth heavy, vocal tinged progressive at its best
Previous from Lane 8:
Brightest Lights LP (2020, This Never Happened)
Little by Little LP (2017, This Never Happened)
If you like this then check out:
Yotto – Hyperfall LP (2018, Anjunadeep)
Ben Böhmer – Begin Again LP (2021, Anjunadeep)
Lane 8 – Reviver LP is out now on This Never Happened.