Awash in unease, Troller maps a murky, self-contained world that deftly toes the line between accessible and experimental. Moments of pop thread throughout the Austin darkwave trio’s second disc, but catchy pulsators “Nothing” and “Not Here” ratchet a tension firmly rooted in darkness. “Storm Maker” slates Amber Goers’ dreamy vocals over an organ sample, a glimmer of daybreak before the rest of Graphic pulls you back under. Foreboding opener “Hellscape” drones synthesizers, while “Dryld” and “Drug Dog” fashion ambience into brooding, cinematic soundscapes. The latter chills with foreboding synths building as chirping sounds flit in and out. Imagine it in an Eighties horror flick, playing under the brutal final scene as the camera pans across all the bloody carnage. Closer “Torch,” a sprawl of hammering beats beneath Goers’ voice, peters out to a lonely eeriness.
This article appears in July 1 • 2016.