A Review: See Mystery Lights

I am finally getting around to writing a review for See Mystery Lights, YACHT’s DFA debut. With the lack of track variety available from this album, I don’t have any qualms throwing out an honest write-up with a few samples.

For more than half a decade YACHT’s been the alias of Oregon musician/producer Jona Bechtolt. Last year, Bechtolt returned to the formula of his previous project, The Blow, and added female vocalist Claire Evans. Based on a few short press releases, it can be assumed that the two were bonded through a love for solid electro-pop, the paradoxical, life after death, and lots of triangles. YACHT provides an extensive mission statement in an attempt to explain their peculiarity.

The YACHT members’ eccentricities ring throughout See Mystery Lights in the album’s dominating theme. Track after track, with a few exceptions, wraps a bit of YACHT’s casual occult philosophy into cushy, bouncy, danceable lo-fi. The lyrics will inspire little spiritual contemplation, but they do function well to create a smart yet bizarre focal point.

The pace is consistently upbeat, and the layers stack easily. Many of the songs ooze quirkiness by utilizing a variety of cleverly assembled elements, including synth basslines, tweaked vocals, laptop-processed beats, and an array of decorative effects. It’s a characteristically DFA sound incorporated with an eeriness spawned from the album’s subject matter. The final product is a possessed summer electro LP, a perfect soundtrack for bikini-clad, undead beach-goers setting and spiking through a game of volleyball.

It would be tough to argue See Mystery Lights is the most interesting and perhaps most creative record to come out this summer. Not only does each song resonate haunted pop hooks and groove, it genuinely sounds as though YACHT is having fun in the studio. Give each song a full listen. Despite the lyric content, every track on See Mystery Lights gradually comes to life.

Ring the Bell – YACHT

The Afterlife – YACHT

And while we’re on the subject of YACHT…

Danse Music (YACHT Remix) – Kumisolo