If the subject of Brian Eno's "Lizard Point" had wriggled up on a windswept beach, only to turn back towards the ocean, the moment would be soundtracked by Tycho's "Awake". Graphic artist Scott Hansen, who records under the moniker, blends considerately strummed guitar lines with synthesizer whispers and dancefloor ready drum hits. The guitars offer a study of a surf-rock figure, albeit a recalcitrant one dawdling between the sand and the surf. Their starting propulsion quickly settles into a groove, and we're trapped in the tideline. In-roads are made by the synthesizer, whose initial murmur grows into a steady roar shaking the track out of its sleepy limbo. “Awake” captures the moment in the morning when you wipe the sleep from your eyes; or emerging from the ooze for the first time when each step carries the promise of something new.
"Awake" is the first single from Tycho's new LP, promised to be out sometime next year.