\It’s been a long time since the last Locust album, but Mark van Hoen has not been inactive, having been involved in numerous projects over the resulting decade. The birth of You’ll Be Safe Forever stems from happenstance; an invitation to perform a DJ set on WFMU led to Van Hoen revisiting archival recordings as well as collaborating with friends; along the way, Van Hoen felt the results were Locust-like. Of course, Locust’s m.o. has always been intriguing explorations into electronic sound, and he picks up where 2001’s Wrong left off. The mixture of sounds range from the tranquil and introspective (“Fall For Me,” “More Like Prayer Than Science”) to the rhythmically erotic (“Strobes,” “Just Want You”) and the disturbingly dark (“Do Not Fear”). Short segues fall in between longer, laconic tracks, creating an overall listening experience that is nothing short of a Technicolor recreation of driving around London at 2AM on a Saturday morning. Gentle, dark, and always inviting, You’ll Be Safe Forever is another fine addition to Van Hoen’s storied discography.
