Ruinism

Opener “Reverance” gives us a great deal--tremolo string flourishes and swirling synthesizers, filter gates as grand as castle keeps that slowly open up to reveal lush vegetation within--but of percussion it gives us none. From there on, the album offers up interplanetary R&B. [Jul 2017, p.62]

Ultimately, this seems to be his goal on Ruinism; to take you into a world of house and electronic music, where each and every artefact that you thought were held dear can be just as easily crumbled and recontextualised to create a whole new atmosphere. This is where which he wants you to venture, and not look back.

Ruinism isn’t a departure from the type of chopped foundations we’ve come to expect from Lapalux, it’s just less thick with haze: both onimous and gorgeous, it’s an album of two halves that tiptoes into a purgatory state.

Ruinism is a bold reinvention of Lapalux's sound, and is undoubtedly his best work to date.

Fans of textured, cinematic soundscapes and left-field hip-hop will find Ruinism the most satisfying, but Howard's style is distinct enough that adventurous electronic music fans in general should at least check it out; it's as polished and well-realized as any of his output thus far.

With Ruinism, Lapalux has succeeded in achieving something genuinely unique. It’s not a case of him throwing the pieces in the air to see where they fall as every track is still clearly painstakingly put together. Rather, it has freed himself from his expectations and his routine to achieve an unexpected purpose. It is a method that has resulted in one of the stand-out electronic releases of the year so far.

Though far less accessible than his previous material, Ruinism isn’t the clinical listen it could have turned into. Its performers are never spotlit and yet its textures never lack a human soul. It is the kind of album that tends to frustrate a fanbase while cementing its maker as an artist for that very willingness to alienate the faithful.

Although at times the sound experiments can feel too inward-looking, Howard balances the darkness and lightness of his palette with relative ease, producing a record of imaginative depth and danceable surface.

Ruinism does, at times, often feel more like an experiment than a cohesive whole; a criticism sometimes levelled at Lynch. ... And yet, there’s something about Ruinism that sucks you into its world. It’s beauty amid chaos and it’s easy to let your inhibitions go and just fall into it.

Throughout Ruinism, Lapalux programs his beats with an eye towards gradual rewards, and having no vocals to enhance their accessibility makes them a bit impenetrable at first, just as the fearsome journey towards death doesn’t offer instant answers.