\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/span>\u2606<\/span><\/p>\n A new day has come, a new record has to be reviewed. Once again, it deviates from what I usually like to review. Once again, this review is completely against my usual personality. The artist is not only\u00a0alive<\/em>, he is even\u00a0young<\/em>! The record has come out on the 25th of July this very year and can not be found in a magazine dedicated to classic rock and old black-and-white movies. The music can be heard in front of your girlfriends without the oh so well-known fear that she will jump out of the window of your 14th floor apartment. However, it is also not the record of a well-known artist where I could just let out all my frustration and anger of not getting any coffee this morning. This job is getting harder and harder.<\/p>\n The album in question is called\u00a0All the Way Up<\/em>\u00a0and is the second work of a young artist called\u00a0<\/em>Ilias<\/strong>, an Algerian producer and musician living in Sydney, Australia. Pretty colorful background and, well, it sure does lead to some pretty colorful music. In a certain way, the approach of this album can be compared to\u00a0Sleep<\/em>\u00a0from\u00a0Tom the Lion<\/strong><\/a>, the artist reviewed on this site a few weeks ago. Like that album, the main focus of this record is pop music, but it is not your everyday\u00a0<\/strong>shitty\u00a0<\/strong>pop, but pop songs with intricate arrangements, unusual sounds creating lush soundscapes and twisted rhythms along with a soothing, soft singing voice concentrating on themes of love, desire and breakup.<\/p>\n However, there are also clear differences between\u00a0All the Way Up<\/em>\u00a0and that other lush pop record. First of all, despite the\u00a0moments of melancholy, the whole record has a rather sunny feel, due to using brighter sounds and often working in the higher registers. Second, the album never purely focuses on one single mood. The most interesting moments are curtesy of two instrumentals, ‘Picture the Sun’ and ‘Jet Glow’ which is the highlight of this record \u2013 a dreary, slightly druggy, completely spaced out instrumental with all kinds of rainbow sounds and a very mystical atmosphere. In the end, it is really just a bunch of strange sounds woven together but man, it’s done so well! If I wouldn’t know better, I would think that\u00a0Brian Eno<\/strong>\u00a0has decided to reside on the sunny shores of Australia. ‘Picture the Sun’ is a bit more on the quiet, peaceful side but is still nice enough and does a great job of introducing a new sound after the first two opening tracks.<\/p>\n