Tentenko - Living in the Box (Coin Locker) Review

Yes, Tentenko is back at it again. How prolific can one musician be? Tentenko is here to prove that enough is never enough with her latest (we think) mini-album, Living in the Box (Coin Locker). Another quick seven tracks of outsider electronic bedroom pop (that's a genre, right?) are here to hold us over until next month when Tentenko inevitably drops another one of these things.

Denjiha features instrumentation that can only be described as "this came free with the latest DAW", but Tentenko can make just about anything work. Stretching this cheesy synth to its absolute limits atop a minimal rhythm, there's a surprisingly catchy melody buried deep inside this track.

Dancing Doll opens up sounding a little bit like the DOOM theme song (seriously!)

THE HOUSE aims to bring as many asynchronous elements together as possible, and I gotta admit that it works. Everything is off-beat while Tentenko's endearing voice gently floats throughout the mix. Meanwhile, aliens is an exercise in experimental sci-fi beeps and boops, the least structured track on the album.

The biggest surprise comes in the form of Hot Pants​, a re-imagining of the b-side to Tentenko's breakout single Good bye, Good girl. Washed out to all hell, with little giggles strewn throughout, it's about as abstract and odd as the original was.

Loop Echo is another abstract one, full of reverb-ridden clicks and clanks with Tentenko's vocals at a mere whisper. The closer is Coin Locker, which opens up with some serious 80s-throwback synths. This one actually sounds like it was intended to be a pop song at one point, with a coherent structure and less obvious experimentation going on. I absolutely adore what Tentenko was able to put together with what sound like nothing more than cheap virtual instruments and a desk mic.

So overall, this is definitely yet another Tentenko mini-album. It's so hard to predict where she's going next, you just have to hold on tight and hope for the best. I for one love her abstract experimentation, I think it's some of the most interesting and unique music being put out by anybody ever involved in BiS. This isn't my FAVORITE post-BiS project by any stretch, but I think it's incredibly creative and boundary-pushing. Living in the Box (Coin Locker) is just another piece of the puzzle, not groundbreaking or important but still just as endearing as any one of Tentenko's other releases. Go ahead and check it out, there's really nothing to lose.

-Justin

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