L’Avenue – Into The Night (album review)

October 17 sees the arrival of the debut album from L’Avenue. Jesse Reuben Wilson, as he signs his cheques, appeared to arrive without fanfare in the summer of 2019 with what turned out to be the synthwave debut release of the year – the widely adored ‘Cherry Crush’ EP. By the end of the year he’d joined The Midnight, Ollie Wride and Nina at the synthfam royalty top table and picked up at least a handful of year end best plaudits across the blogosphere. He’s been on a visual and sonic journey with us since then “reimagining the perfect 80s aesthetic” and let’s be honest – he’s nailed it from day one. Effortlessly matching music to artwork/visuals in a consistent way which Goldfrapp would be proud of.

So, does the full length album live up to the early promise? Boy does it ever. Rather than spin out the ‘Cherry Crush’ sound (none of the EP tracks make the cut) ‘Into The Night’ is a giant leap forward. It’s bigger, bolder and, at times, the darker side of L’Avenue.

Writing about music makes you listen to it very differently, especially when there is little in the way of lyrical or vocal content as is the case here. You really have to go with how it makes you feel. Or even scarier, what it makes you think. It’s a much less passive experience but one which is a good exercise for getting in touch with your imagination, something we could all encourage ourselves to do in these unprecedented times. Deep right?!

Whilst we love nothing more than the feel and look of the physical product when it comes to music, streaming services do allow the listener to hear the music on their terms and in the order that works best for them. To this end, we admit completely disrespecting L’Avenue’s intended running order for these songs, creating our own dream sequence (yes, that is a Wilde reference) of events. This started as a happy accident, but we’ve created our own vision in doing so and can’t hear it any other way now.

‘Into The Night’ as a title couldn’t be more perfect. This album reveals itself as a 24 hour diary entry (at least the way we have structured it) from our protagonist (possibly female, as the interlude ‘Her’ would suggest). At times this record is so sensual and warm whilst at others it’s corporate and cold. We love that contrast – day to night. And that’s where we go….

The album opens with ‘Crystal Waves’, badged as an introduction. It announces the transition from ‘Cherry Crush’ to ‘Into The Night’. Reminding us where we have been, and hints at what’s to come. There’s something about it which recalls the copyright security message you’d get at the start of a VHS tape, before it trips into a form of space odyssey.

The clock begins circa 7pm with ‘Dance’. It’s the closest to a pop moment on the album with a female voice asking “would you like to dance”. For the briefest of moments we’re reminded of Whitney Houston’s ‘How Will I Know’. Timewise, it feels like a post-work workout, a warm down perhaps rather than the full aerobic activity. Our mysterious character begins to leave behind the chore and routine of the business day.

‘Feel Time Fade’, an early single from the album, takes us beyond the daylight hours towards the darkness. It’s both unsettling and comfortable at once. It makes you feel very much on the verge of something, but it’s not quite tangible – yet you feel you are crossing over.

The interlude ‘Her’ is truly such a visual moment. We see Moonlighting’s Maddie Hayes, pacing around her luxurious Los Angeles apartment, with the city lights, as well as the soft synths, twinkling in the distance. She’s both alone and lonely and the music is her only company. ‘Closer’ is the sound of her unwinding, glass of wine in hand, bath running as she stares down the night ahead.

But it’s a temporary situation as the title track is romantic and warm, suggestive of an illicit tryst or dangerous liaison. A candy coated voice asks “do you wanna come with me……into the night”. The synths and production seduce, making you feel unafraid, yet somehow there’s something in the darkness of which your senses are acutely aware….

That something appears via ‘Kaleefornya’, one of the many American references across the collection. This is the soundtrack to what’s happening streets away from our entangled lovers – the grime behind the Hollywood glitter. A shady backstreet deal is unfolding……in Kaleefornya.

A middle of the night getaway is required, does it represent an instant uncoupling? ‘Lonely Highway’ lacks the pace to be a speedometer-testing nocturnal cruise. More likely the driver has pulled over. The synths glimmer, like the spattering of stars populating the black night sky being taken in from a truck stop or all night diner. The song has an ache to it, a regret. But do they rue what they did…or what they did not?

Dawn breaks west of the city and we awake alone in a ‘Malibu Haze’. The synths bounce a little more, like the sound of the percolating coffee which permts recovery from the events of the night before. It’s a hopeful song, a “it’s going to be alright” moment, which is how anyone waking to the Malibu view must feel. Eternal optimism.

But it’s back to the grind, although we’re getting there in style via ‘Osaka Drift’. The wheels are turning in our decadent ride which transports us again, this time to the CBD and the business world awaiting. Metric’s classic ‘Handshakes’ with its brutal chicken and egg corporate robot dilemma – “buy this car to drive to work, drive to work to pay for this car” – springs to mind. Any pleasure taken from the fruits of their labour is cruelly and coldly erased with the Kraftwerk-channelling ‘Corporation’. Don’t let it be forgotten – you are owned. A mere cog in a wheel.

Where in the day we end with ‘Prom’ is unclear. Maybe it’s a desk based daydream, longing for simpler times filled with an innocent naivety – epitomised by prom night. That great American tradition – yet again with a theme of transition, childhood to adulthood – well almost. The track is pure John Hughes Brat Pack love theme – we can see Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy eyeing each other across a crowded highschool dancefloor.

We emerge from this day in the life having escaped into someone else’s reality. That’s the power of music and of this album. L’Avenue has created a whole new world of possibility and maybe even a genre. It’s just not quite synthwave or retrowave. There’s some Japanese City Pop at work here and that Business/Pleasure aesthetic that Little Boots created for her ‘Working Girl’ album. The production is immense, it’s a real wall of sound, but nuanced and with the most impressive attention to detail. It seemed quite the challenge to follow ‘Cherry Crush’, but it would seem ‘Into The Night’ has thrown down the gauntlet to the synthfam and has raised the bar several notches.

‘Into The Night’ does what it says on the tin, so don’t fight it, see where your 3am insomnia affected imagination can take you. We might not have heard it the way it was intended, but that’s the beauty of art, right?

‘Into The Night’ is out digitally on 17 October and available for physical pre-order via L’Avenue’s Bandcamp page.