| Picking up on the ear-catching, edgy segmented rhythms of the breakbeat wave on Flux , Love Spirals Downwards update their sound, while leaving the creative core intact. It's all about texture in this multi-layered album of Suzanne Perry's atmospheric vocals, brightly strummed acoustic guitar, and urgent electro-beats. While Perry's long phrasing meets the moderate rhythms to imply a midpoint, ocean coast sonic waves ebb and flow over the listener intoxicatingly. Indeed, "Sound of Waves" is the name of one of these undulating tracks. Swirling and merging, this duo's techno-psychedelic (psychedelia implied by the gentle nod of the content without considering their titular acronym) ballads of love lost or failed ("Psyche," "By Your Side," and "I'll Always Love You") are constructed in a way that owes as much to the accessibility of pop as it does to current forms of electronica. -- Tom Schulte

| Mixing seductive breakbeats, soothing subbass moans, spacey guitars, and beautiful female vocals, LSD's ultra-smooth music is relaxing, provocative, and inspiring. By refusing to openly embrace ambience, LSD ensures that its music has an immediacy and sense of groove that allows it to seize the attention, but without forsaking the cerebral impact that a mellow, calming ambient score can possess. >From the exotic guitar picking of "Alicia" to the narcotic pop of "Psyche," LSD explores a range of moods and styles without disrupting the mellow, groovin' mood that it so successfully establishes from the commencement of Flux .

By paying close attention to the texture of the songs, the band ensures a deep listening experience that is inherently satisfying, with each song exploring a slightly different nook or cranny of LSD's unique sound, and each musical moment proving capable of being contemplated from a multitude of levels, much like a piece of postmodern art. Subtle keyboard tones and throbbing bass gently but firmly guide the attention while giving the body a sense of being mildly intoxicated. The album concludes with the trippy "Sunset Bell," where a looped vocal utterance is incorporated into an evolving series of electronically-contrived sonic layers designed to space you out.

I really cannot say enough positive things about this album, so if you dig music on the mellower side, I would highly recommend checking LSD out. -- Tate Bengtson

| The latest album from Love Spirals Downwards, is a slight departure from the duo’s traditional semi-Gothic sound. On Flux, Suzanne Perry’s soothing and ethereal vocals float over a textured musical backdrop that fuses organic instrumentation with flowing Breakbeats. Multi-instrumentalist and producer, Ryan Lum, creates a thick atmospheric sound that is reminiscent of classic Cocteau Twins, Bel Canto and Hooverphonic. There are gorgeous vocal tracks (“City Moon”, “Ring” – featuring vocalist, Kristen Perry -- and the closing track, “Sunset Bell” -- featuring vocalist, Jennifer Ryan Fuller) alongside some powerful instrumental tracks that keep Flux moving smoothly. Lum proves that he’s quite adept at interpreting Drum ‘n Bass within the context of their music without compromising the integrity of either. It would be amazing to have some of these songs remixed! -- Craig Roseberry

| A great, contemporary record. Flux sounds like a more genuine version of what Mono was aiming for: a pop-electronic fusion with a gentle jungle undertow. It's one of the best things I've heard in months, and you'd be wise to get your hands on a copy quick." -- Scott Becker

| (Rating: 9.3) For years, Love Spirals Downwards have been the mascot leaders of Projekt records. Epitomizing the label with their lush, casually paced guitars and siren vocals, Love Spirals Downwards have created their own little niche in the ambient gothic world.

The latest album from the band, Flux, is more of the same stuff we've come to expect from the California- based duo with one key exception-- over all of the hypnotic aural dreamscapes that have made up Love Spirals Downwards is the introduction of jungle beats. Very weird, and something that makes you instinctively pop the disc out and make sure you put the right album in. But it's true. The combination of gothic trance and jungle rhythms isn't something that you'd probably expect to be found on the Projekt label, or any other gothic or dark ambient label that's trying to take itself seriously. However, within minutes of listening to this disc, you'll think that Love Spirals Downwards has been doing it for years and everybody else is just way behind the times.

Much less like a prelude to a dance remix, and more like an integral part of the music, electronic drums are used here in a tempo that's plenty fast, but subdued enough to not be the foreground of the songs. Rather, the foreground remains the interaction between effect- heavy guitar and singer Suzanne Perry's other- worldly vocals. Songs stand out as clearly futuristic, perhaps paving the way for a new interaction of genres that hadn't previously been conceived. Slacking back and listening to "Sound of Waves" or "Ring" easily lets you believe you've been somehow privy to a CD warped back in time from ten years in the future. We'll be anxiously awaiting the next album. -- Skaht Hansen