Hypatia Lake Angels and Demons, Space and Time

Initially switching between soft and melodic and, well, slightly less soft – but just as melodic – Hypatia Lake blends elements of 1960s folk and pop-rock and 1990s shoegaze with more than a simple splash of creative insight.

It's not just the influences driving Hypatia Lake that make a difference, though: Trembling guitars, vocals that come just above a whisper, and sweeping synthesizers gently trod a path laid by musical greats, but despite the respectful reverence for the great progenitors of post-1950 pop music, the variety of style found on Angels and Demons, Space and Time speaks to a desire to craft something unique.

Hypatia Lake, hailing from rainy Seattle, must have unleashed a torrential downpour of creativity to bring this record to public attention. A collection of entrancing songs that mix important musical elements like repetition and surprise with no trouble, Angels and Demons, Space and Time ends up a cooperative effort between shoegaze and neo-folk, with tinges of afrobeat, psychedelic, post-rock, electroclash, noise pop, and early progressive metal (The Patterns of Orion sounds like it would have been at home next to Rush) making an impact.

For all the noise and ruckus that comes with Hypatia Lake, songs like Your Rate in Time and As the Hourglass Empties provide enough private, quiet moments to sustain the record. Few artists have enough musical insight to write an album that doesn't let up in volume and intensity – My Bloody Valentine's Loveless springs to mind – and Hypatia Lake, in all honesty, isn't one of them.

They are, however, a group that have a propensity to write successful music that sounds simultaneously anachronistic and modern. For this, the vocal contributions of Lance Watkins can be thanked for their timeless presence; his ability to carry this generally experimental record is remarkable.

Hypatia Lake's combination of distinctive musical styles makes for an interesting record, but were it not for an intensely creative effort from the group, Angels and Demons, Space and Time would be nothing more than a failed tribute. Thankfully, we instead are given a record that, while paying some tribute to the past, is inexorably unique.