[Environ]

Morgan Geist has been relatively quiet of late, and his most notable recent release, 2008’s solo album Double Night Time, admittedly left something to be desired. Still, his overwhelmingly dependable track record is reason enough to check Look Right Through, his first 12″ under the Storm Queen moniker. The record, comprised of vocal and dub mixes of the title track, showcases the producer’s house angle at its best.

Geist’s work, especially in tandem with Darshan Jesrani as Metro Area, is laudable for its ability to rehabilitate archaic aesthetics (predominantly squiggly 80s boogie and R&B) without falling into campiness. With “Look Right Through,” he sets his sights on impassioned vocal house, a genre that demands a singer with a similar propensity. Damon C. Scott, reportedly recruited from a subway platform, is entirely up to the task, hanging silkily above the track’s patchwork of rippling synths, unafraid to sometimes dip into preacherly from-the-gut mode, his lyrics a candid address on urban alienation. Geist’s production is characteristically clean, unfolding with a sort of logical spontaneity which is especially apparent on the dub where his studio experimentation pushes to the forefront. Nothing sounds accidental, but certain flourishes, like brief passages of cowbell and vocal chop-ups, seem to have been thrown in simply for fun. Aside from the fact that its base elements — especially that razor-sharp bassline — are incredibly well-composed, these quirks lend the vocal the dynamic backdrop it deserves.