“No news of Fischer Medard (either under his own name or through one of his other projects) since 2009, was as pleased as surprised to learn that reactivated his alias Arc Lab for a new album. Published in digital only, Hidden Shoal, this long-format allows the player to return to the electronic land (after the neoclassical interlude constituted by the EP under his own name) and even back even further back, since the thirteen songs on the album work in a somewhat dated register, marked by the presence of synths and rhythmic supported.
As such, the first are sometimes a bit “mushy” seeking a “psyche” inheritance (WVVS, All These Worlds Are Yours) while the latter occasionally venturing into more techie shores or if parent and saturations distortions (Boundary). Fortunately Medard Fischer knows, each time offset these tendencies by adding a lighter melody sounds more air or a more impulsive musical phrase (Through The Burning Glass, Tidal, M-Set). Similarly, the introduction in the middle of album, a short track mainly played the piano, provides a form of welcome breathing (Aurora Signals).
Other items from breaking the continuum in place, sound clips from NASA and old radio programs conversations are used both as voice materials as sources of crackling and additional fragmentations (Necessary Concepts, The Refracting Glass). The assembly then enrolled in this announcement that Arc Lab as a “science-fictional travel retrofuturist” way to confirm that the musician look both behind and in front of him, bit obvious but overall successful year.”