Lone – “Vapour Trail” (Singles Going Steady)

Pryor Stroud: In “Vapour Trail”, Lone dexterously melds a muscular hip-hop beat with a fidgety, chrome-coated electronic melody, forging a unique sound that seems, at once, anchored in cracked concrete and suspended in the clouds. As the track progresses, the reduplicated, half-legible vocal sample begins to assume a hypnotic quality — that is, it begins to pull you deeper into the track without announcing its intentions. This opens up a set of questions: where is Lone taking us? Where does this vapour trail lead? [7/10]

Emmanuel Elone: “Vapour Trail” is a smooth house track from start to finish. The vocal sample is nice, as well as the tasteful synths that aren’t overblown or excessive in any way. Quite possibly the best aspect about this song, though, are the crisp drum breaks that open and close the track out. While smooth, it would have been nice had Lone chose to switch the pace up, especially since the same laid-back groove becomes dull after four and a half minutes. Still, “Vapour Trail” is a great song and clearly displays a more refined side to house music as a genre. [7/10]

John Bergstrom: Not a cover of Ride’s 1991 shoegaze classic, but rather an update of 808 State’s landmark ocean breeze of a dance track from a couple years earlier, “Pacific State”. That means groovy beats, chilled synth pads, and sunbeams coming from your speakers. Nicely done. [7/10]

Jordan Blum: This is another example of a track that works as background distraction but is too grating and repetitious to really enjoy at the forefront of your attention. I appreciate all of the subtle variations and timbres, but the overarching structure isn’t very likeable. It feels like techno video game music or what you’d hear if you hit the “demo’ button on a keyboard. I’m just not the right person for it, I guess. To each his [or her] own. [6/10]

Chris Ingalls: Lone’s breezy new dance single is lush and crystal clear. Sonically, it sounds fresh and contemporary — thanks to some lovely synth breaks — but somehow evokes the ’90s with a particularly nostalgic-sounding beat. Vocal samples wrap the whole thing up to create a fun, harmless party anthem. [7/10]

Chad Miller: The synth chords were pretty cool. I feel they could’ve been brought out more. The main instrumental melody was nice as well, and the production did a lot to aid it. Overall, everything was pretty enjoyable here, but it seemed like it was missing a little something as well, leaving it a little forgettable. [6/10]

SCORE: 6.66