Fax Gang and Parannoul "Scattersun" [Teal in Blue Vinyl]

None of Scattersun’s principal collaborators could easily meet in person. When Fax Gang and Parannoul began work on the album in 2023, they encouraged themselves to throw all caution to the wind with regard to genre and sound palette, ultimately weaving together intense strains of blown-out electronica that pull on a whole manner of stylistic threads, from two-step beats, to flashes of breakcore, cloud rap passages, and pop serenity.

Having co-written the album entirely through means of text chat, Scattersun is the product of a completely asynchronous operation in which no one shares a timezone. After their first collaboration on the co-production “Four Walls” for Fax Gang’s 2022 release Dataprism, the internet-based collective knew they had to attempt a bigger project with the anonymous shoegaze artist Parannoul.

Scattersun expands on the heartfelt sibilance of Fax Gang’s prior output with Parannoul’s penchant for epic song structures and tumbling climaxes, layered with diaphanous vocals that oscillate between hope and despair. Lead track “Lullaby for a Memory” comprises elements of twitchy drum n bass and Parannoul’s overdriven pop-shoegaze, with pitch-corrected vocals interfixed through uptempo percussion, piano, and distorted layers of melodic atmosphere.

Jarring turns that lead to booming, emotional climaxes form the animating logic behind Scattersun. Album opener “Quiet” lulls listeners into a false sense of security before the breakdown tells them "do not pay any heed to your expectations" as it dismantles itself before exploding into a climax the artists describe as a spirit bomb. Such crescendos and dime-turns are all over Scattersun, defining characteristics which, in their scattered unpredictability, always culminate in enrapturing, playful mimicry of human nature.