Seven Lions - Asleep in the Garden of Infernal Stars

That title alone tells you Seven Lions is in full fantasy-novel mode, and “Asleep in the Garden of Infernal Stars” delivers on the melodrama. This is the darker, more cinematic end of what he does. Where a lot of his tracks chase the sunset, this one goes for something closer to a total eclipse: minor-key strings, a vocal drenched in reverb, and a drop that’s more menacing than euphoric. The bass design around 2:00 has a metallic, almost orchestral quality, like a brass section that got possessed. He’s always written these as little scores for imaginary films, and this is one of his more atmospheric ones. There’s a good forty seconds in the middle that’s basically ambient before the last drop crashes back. I put it on with headphones in the dark and it genuinely did the job it’s built for. It’s heavy without being a mosh track, emotional without being saccharine, and it earns its absurd name. The one I keep going back to in the dark.

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