Queens-based avant-garde musician Annika Zee synthesizes sounds both tactile and intangible on Factory Pageant, producing experimental electronic with a freeform vocal jazz slant. Lounge-like percussive lines underpin twisted synths, dreamy pads, and wurlitzer keys, with Zee’s voice echoing outwards, all of which contribute to a thoroughly spacey, atmospheric effort — though that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its share of delightfully discordant segues. Utilizing a variety of genre-influences keeps the record interesting and readily transformable — the future house type beat of “Super Model” jarringly changes to the atonal slow jam “Roses, the Red” to the mellifluous blue wave of “Lydia” back-to-back-to-back. Regardless of its wide-ranging sound, Factory Pageant remains cohesive in Zee’s boundary-pushing ear and penchant for the weird — in lieu of attending Annika Zee’s now-cancelled March 20th show at Planet X, give it a listen (or purchase) below. —Connor Beckett McInerney
