" Variations of Light. My new group and album with Alnitak Kid & Nate88. Lunar Beautific drops April 19. 3 releases in 4 months. No slowing up here..." Nelson Dialect (@Dialect.Official) wrote within a Facebook post earlier this month. I believe, the "3 releases in 4 months" Nelson is talking about are, in fact: Nelson Dialect + Architech's Opera House released on Galant Records, So.Crates / Alnitak Kid / Nelson Dialect's Sunset Cities on Bedroom Suck Records, and, of course, Variations of Light's Lunar Beautific released a matter of days ago on Bleu Avian Records. Trusty readers of The Witzard will, likely, recognize Nelson Dialect's name from his eppearances on "Beyond The 10th," "In The Pocket," and "Hold It Down" on Side B of Ray West & The Soul Misfits self-titled "one-off" cassette for Red Apples 45/FatBeats. Alnitak Kid, Nelson Dialect & Nate88 are three Adelaide, Australia-based artists, who have now, teamed up to collectively form Variations of Light; through Lunar Beautific's album roll-out, Variations of Light have garnered favorable reviews from across The Internet and even scored recent music video/single premieres on both Complex Australia & EARMILK.


From what I can gather, Lunar Beautific was recorded as a group production and painstakingly created through a series of long jam sessions with Nelson Dialect on the mic and sampler, Nate88 on keyboards, and Alnitak Kid providing a lush, organic production soundscape. It's an extremely enjoyable listen—clocking in at just under 24 minutes—with a sound largely indebted to Soul/Funk and "live" Hip-Hop bands, such as The Roots, Jurassic 5, Phony PPL, and even, Ray West & The Soul Misfits. Variations of Light even went as far as to recruit frequent Black Milk, Pharoahe Monch, Method Man & Redman, Phat Kat, and Slaughterhouse collaborator Melanie "M." Rutherford to grace single "Petty Love" with her lush harmonies. American Jazz & Soul singer Lauren Henderson is also, featured on Lunar Beautific stand-out "Stay Low," as well. Lunar Beautific was Mixed By: Deckdaddy & Mastered By: Adam Straney at Breakpoint Mastering. Variations of Light's Lunar Beautific is currently available to stream, purchase, or download from Bleu Avian Records' Bandcamp page, along with 150 limited edition 12-inch vinyl LP's available online.