Afterhours is the simple-yet-appropriate name of Los Angeles resident Nicholas Crozier Malkin’s production project. The electronic musician and radio DJ (he hosts a long-running 11-to-midnight radio show known as Field Recordings of the Afterhours) takes much of his inspiration from the solitary atmosphere and melancholic mood of his city’s late-night/early morning hours, a fact heavily reflected in the “cinematic and nocturnal” pieces which make up his forthcoming Lowlife LP for Not Not Fun. Among the record’s six tracks lies the particularly moody “Defragment #2.” The production finds Afterhours taking a slow stroll through spacey pads, tuned bell percussion, and floating clouds of analog mist while maintaining a steady and understated four-on-the-floor pulse. It all seems to make sense until the songs final 30 seconds arrive, during which Malkin reveals a surprise twist that leaves us a bit confused, but also intrigued to see where else Afterhours’ moonlit journey ventures when his Lowlife LP drops on January 28.

Defragment 2

Defragment #2

Defragment 2