Unrecognizable by Lolina

In many of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities, calling the housing situation a crisis feels like a laughable understatement. Perplexingly, each new building increases housing supply without bringing any relief to prices, with each new apartment serving a purpose more akin to a safety deposit box than a personal residence. Further personifying the insidiousness of these luxury apartments, experimental electronic group Lolina’s new album Unrecognizable tells an absurd narrative set in a world where buildings are used as weapons. Our protagonists, two rebels contesting government control of a skyscraper which could wreak havoc on the civilian population, nonchalantly deliver deadpan rapping and spoken dialog over dark, minimal electronic tracks. Vague warnings of omnipresent danger raise the tension on this otherwise casually conversational album, as the disconnect between the characters’ urgent mission and their deeply unserious demeanor draws us into the story. Living under the thumb of violent buildings, these easily distracted renegades remind us of ourselves, increasingly asked to disappear to make way for more empty places to live.