Neon Indian - VEGA Intl Night School
This album got slept on a bit I felt. It got some good reviews but quickly faded out of sight. It’s one of those albums that keeps giving the more you listen to it.
For Alan Palomo, it’s a huge leap stylistically: you can hear a lot of influence from pop icons like Prince (see News from the Sun) and Michael Jackson, and also from the at the time nascent vapor wave/future funk sounds (but sped up and pitched down). Many samples and instruments are deliberately intended to evoke rather nostalgic responses. His old chillwave aesthetic is almost entirely abandoned.
There’s a great 20 minute electronic suite midway through (Slumlord, Re/lease, and Techno Clique).
I still haven’t heard anything that sounds quite like it.