Mas Ysa: Seraph

Up until the other day, I had no idea about Mas Ysa. Otherwise known as Thomas Arsenault, he is a man that creates sweet electronic music with traditional song writing elements. From listening to the opening track of this album though, you wouldn’t really know. ‘Don’t Make’, which opens the record, features Thomas on acoustic guitar while singing quite gently and you might be mistake it for a Simon and Garfunkel track – it’s really beautiful and gentle.
The next minute however, you are thrown into electric bliss with the track ‘Running’. It features synth breaks and some glorious drumming alongside the track. ‘I Have Some’ is a track that does something a little different, as track number three on the record it combines the quiet acoustic elements of #1 and the disco electro beats on #2 and mashes them together. It’s a concept that you might not appreciate at first, but give it a listen a few times through, you’ll see what is going on eventually.
After supporting the likes of Deerhunter and Purity Ring, this album, the debut LP from Canadian Mas Ysa, is definitely an intriguing listen from start to finish. Combining lots of instrumentation and moods and soundscapes, you should check this album out if quirky out of the box kinda music is your thing.
Out now via Create/Control, Downtown Records
Reviewed by Tex Miller