Lloyd Cole – 1D Electronics 2012-2014 – Review by Killian Laher

Some may feel it difficult to believe that he’s still around. But Lloyd Cole has built up a reputation for writing finely crafted, intelligent guitar songs. He also dabbles in electronica, and by my reckoning, this is his third foray into this territory. While 2001’s Plastic Wood had moments of success, this is odd as bedamned. Slight Piece, Benson and the many of the other tracks bring to mind odd sounds from 1980s era computer games, full of synth bleeps and blops.

Ken-O and Track and Hold are more ambient pieces, while towards the end there are three longer pieces, which are more atmospheric than what went before. These work better, but overall, the whole thing is kind of jarring. Many Lloyd Cole fans will play it a few times, scratch their heads and put on one of his other albums. I’m not sure who else will pick it up.

Tracklist:

1. Slight Piece
2. Benson
3. Ken-O
4. Autogyro
5. One Voice
6. Pertronics
7. Renes
8. Track and Hold
9. The Bund
10. Slight Orchestra
11. Strands

Renes: