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With his sophomore long-player we also get to hear more variation in Ace's musical palette - not only the cyber-outrun of 'Mizukage Prototype', but mallwave funk in 'Penthouse Hideaway' and late-night retrowave cool in 'No One's Watching' - which showcases that sexy sax - uncredited on Bandcamp, so I would love to know who is blowing the horn throughout. Meanwhile 'Seafront Rendevouz' is part end-of-game sequence (is that a tiny chipwave bleep I hear at one point?) part yacht-wave chic.

 

In-jokes and displays of the wit and satire we've seen in Ace's video and streamed performances accepted as part of the package, Ace is clearly a producer of high standards. He fills each moment of a track with a killer melody, an ear-catching bassline, a well-placed synth-twinkle, or by employing unusual percussion such as in another standout for me, 'Break The Cycle'.

 

At 38 minutes, the album feels slight but punchy - all bangers, no mash if you will. It whizzes along and rewards an instant replay. If you bought most of the singles upon release, you may yearn for a little more, in terms of a surprise collab or a longer record. But in Ace's determination to keep the quality high, I suspect he would rather put out a 'greatest hits' meets new instrumentals than load it with tracks that he didn't consider up to standard.

 

All in all, an impressive second album, and I hope that he still has an 'Ace' up his sleeve and drops a collab EP in the Autumn that takes a new turn in the self-proclaimed king of keytar's story. Rob Dyson 8/10