“Stardust Bear Bazaar, Pt. 2” is more than just another single from New Laconia. It’s a world within a world, just waiting to be opened. On their latest release, Ukrainian multidisciplinary artist Alex Syniakov keeps expanding the project’s universe of sound. In their hands, the focus shifts from following the rules to following the ideas. The most noticeable aspect of “Stardust Bear Bazaar, Pt. 2” is how it evolves the premise of the previous single of the same series, bringing in new characters. Pushing forward the meta-concept of time, the track warps both lyrics and sounds, following The Stranger as they wander in a world that just doesn’t work the way it used to anymore. By this point, Time has evolved past being just a character. Time itself has warped the surrounding space as the music plays.
Another standout detail of the track, is the band’s audacity to create wildly contrasting sections that somehow always feel cohesive. Saxophones abruptly meet accordions, glitched-out vocals crash into smooth piano solos and still, it all feels seamless, like passing from one room to the next in that same interdimensional pub known as Stardust Bear Bazaar. Tempos shift without warning but also never thoughtlessly. There’s a shape to the madness, a hidden order that defies reason. It’s a lucid dream where nothing is as it should be and yet, it all still makes sense. “Stardust Bear Bazaar, Pt. 2” is a track that you don’t just listen to, but one you feel surrounded by. Sound, story and imagination alike shift around you as you try to wrap your head around it.
While “Stardust Bear Bazaar, Pt. 2” is a continuation of the series, and of a larger concept that New Laconia has been slowly unveiling piece by piece. It also exists on its own, as a single work of art that’s daring, weird and refreshingly honest. There’s no posturing or following any trends. It doesn’t stay within any one genre. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s just music that, very simply, demands you to stop what you’re doing and pay attention. For all fans of music that transcends both drums and words in order to create vivid imagery and emotion, New Laconia has created a must-listen. One that leaves you with a single question: What lies behind the next portal?
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