Sean Fairchild isn't interested in honing his craft. He's a lot more interested in aggregation. This follow up to his 2020 debut takes the whirling, thrashing ideals of that project and adds more. Four new songs and three remixes are the sum total here, and that's more than enough to get an idea of what Combinator might become.

Combinator re//combinator EP (self-released)

Using a palette of 80s and 90s sounds, Combinator starts with Billy Gouldian bass, Reznor-eqsue beats and plenty of techno washes. The only weak element is Fairchild's voice, which is so ordinary that it is almost overwhelmed by the sonic chaos he has unleashed.

Or maybe those vocals are our point of entry. After all, the sounds here are lovely, incongruous and almost symphonic in their layers. Basic vocals make this a bit more approachable. Maybe I'm just making excuses, but the more I listen the less I worry about the singing.

There's also the fact that vocals are the least important thing to me. The music is extravagant and adventurous, and as its roots come from my own musical childhood, I'm down for the count. Don't ask Combinator to make sense, and the journey will be most fulfilling.

Jon Worley