Pick

Matmos Supreme Balloon

• Words: Wyatt Williams
• Label: Matador
• XLR8R Rating: 8/10

If there were any concerns that Drew Daniel’s new job as a professor at Johns Hopkins University would inhibit his work with partner M.C. Schmidt in Matmos, Supreme Balloon clears the air. The album might be their most sonically pleasing release yet. Flipping the switch on their usual concept-and-sample aesthetic, Matmos has made an album using only synths and no samples–we’re treated to a fun set of beat-driven, short, abstract-pop songs. The main attraction here is the epic title track: A slow-burning and oscillating psych-Kraut jam that runs nearly a half hour long, “Supreme Balloon” cranks up the synthesized heat and rises off into the distance.