Michael Benjamin Lerner aka the man behind Telekinesis won me over long ago with debut album Telekinesis! back in 2009. Add to the fact that he's worked with underrated singer/songwriter Anya Marina and well, the man can pretty much do no wrong. "Dirty Thing" is by far one of the catchiest songs I've encountered over the past year but for all the right reasons. It's light and poppy but not too much and is one of those examples of happy songs that are actually kinda sad.
Considering the album's inspired by feelings of desperation, depression, anger, and hopelessness, you might be surprised by the album's upbeat high-energy pop sound and yet that's what attracts you to Telekinesis. The duality between the catchiness of the songs themselves and the actual meaning of the lyrics. On 12 Desperate Straight Lines you get vestiges of Learner's established sound while he also throws in more experimentation. It's noisier than the debut but no less accessible. Proving you never know what to except from him: Learner redoes previously released "Dirty Thing" and makes it sound more nostalgia a feat I didn't even know was possible.
12 Desperate Straight Lines proves that even life's low points have good in them. Learner's tracks dance where others would weep, smile when others would frown, and practically shine with optimism. It's the more positive break-up album you bound to ever hear.
You can preorder the album (whose release date is February 15) here.
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