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Listen to Actress Strip Down Teengirl Fantasy’s ‘Motif’

Teengirl Fantasty / Photo by Erez Avissar

For a crisp, refreshing feeling like no other, you might consider putting on some Teengirl Fantasy. No, that’s not the name of Justin Bieber’s new fragrance; it’s the New York duo of Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss, who since 2009 have been refining their unique style of lush, luminous, occasionally convoluted electronic dance (and non-dance) music. Their previous records, for labels like New York’s Merok and Barcelona’s Hivern Disc, offered a colorful, psychedelic take on vintage house and techno, buoyed by Balearic airs and firmly grounded in analog circuitry.

In August, they’ll release their sophomore album, Tracer, on True Panther and R&S Records, with guest appearances from Panda Bear, Laurel Halo and Romanthony. On June 25, R&S will release the non-album cut “Motif ” as a teaser, along with “Eternal,” from the LP. Recalling the work of retro-visionists like Legowelt, John Talabot and Blondes,
both tracks are all about roots, with their synths and drum machines dialed into the frequencies broadcast by late 1980s Chicago and Detroit. But the duo is even more interested in branches, spinning melodic motifs into long, graceful tangents and wild curlicues.

Rounding out the EP is a remix from London’s Actress, who recently flipped minds with his lysergic LP R.I.P. (Honest Jon’s). On paper, it’s an odd pairing, given Actress’ grey-scale predilections. Indeed, he sucks almost all the air and color out of “Motif,” leaving us with a hissing, stripped-down throb that recalls techno Spartans like Marcel Dettmann. But in its own way, it’s as evocative as the original, suggesting Ibiza after the apocalypse — a blasted rock guarded by crickets and strewn with splintered glass.