Alongside the likes of E.U. and Fizzarum, Roman Belousov (aka Novel 23) has become one of the more internationally-visible artists currently working amidst the Russian IDM scene, and this latest mini-album arrives surrounded by considerable anticipation. His fourth longplayer in total, “Fly Through The Feelings’ sees Belousov returning to the almost naively pretty sound explored on his 2000 Pitchcadet album “Melodies Of Childhood For Advanced Imagination’, as opposed to the more abstract directions of 2003′ “Architectural Effects’ outing on Bip-Hop.
Although the eight tracks collected here were apparently written during 2000-2004, there’ a sense of thematic cohesion here that makes them sound as though they’d been recorded in a single session. Perhaps one of the most straightforward and immediately accessible IDM-related releases I’ve come across in quite some time, “Fly’ builds its strengths around delicately pretty uplifting pop hooks (indeed, there’ more than a stray trace of New Order lurking in there), bending slightly detuned analogue synths around intricately-programmed retro drum-machine sequences in a manner that calls to mind Pram or a more lo-fi Ulrich Schnauss. What it lacks in depth, “Fly’ more than makes up for in sunny electro-pop pleasures.
