Lucy Dreams drescribes itself as a trio, with two human members (who go by One and Zero) and an AI member, Lucy. This isn't AI music, per se, as the humans seem to have full control. But the apparent conceit is that they sometimes use the contributions of the "artificial" member in writing the music.

Lucy Dreams VVVVV (self-released)

Oh, and the music? It's a bit poppier and trippier than Air (did I mention that the humans hail from Austria? That seems important, somehow), and orders stranger and more accessible.

Kinda electronic prog, kinda EDM, kinda "what the fuck was that?" And yes, it seems that the "artificial" (I keep putting that in quotes for some reason) member Lucy provides the vocals. Do Zero and One explain this? Hell no, and the music is all the better for that.

This album makes sense on its own terms, but not if you break it into pieces. In fact, pulling the seams even a little tends to make the entire experience fall apart. I'm pretty sure that's a feature, but even if it's a bug it definitely trains the ear to trust the musicians, human or otherwise. Weird, spooky and strangely comforting. Don't ask me why.

Jon Worley