Patrick J. Smith (performing under the moniker of A Beacon School), like any really good musician, has improved his craft on this second release, following his solid debut, Cola. Yoyo is an enhancement, if not an evolution, of A Beacon School.

Mixing lazy swooning dance music with shoegaze guitars has been a defining element of A Beacon School. However, within these musical confines, Yoyo takes some cool risks like “Jon,” a seven-minute shoegaze dance instrumental that could have sounded dragged out, but it’s so well arranged that its length is hardly noticeable.

When Smith feeds his curiosity to mould songs in unconventional ways, his efforts don’t go in vain, even if this entails him doing so strictly within the confines of his core formula. For instance, “Down The Pyramid,” even in all its mellow dreaminess, has clattery guitars with odd time signatures, resembling early post-punk, yielding a cool and interesting sound combination.

By default, Smith’s soothingly ambient-leaning music has the right ingredients to be played in the background. However, he finds clever ways to demand the listener’s attention. For example, on “Dot,” he has a calmingly melodious acoustic guitar hook that is overpoweringly relaxing. But then he blends very catchy beats with big whooshing synths that give the guitar hook a boost of energy, resulting in a sound that is psychedelic and blissful, without being too cozy.

Yoyo in many ways offers more of the same as Cola. This album does not reinvent the wheel nor offer something radically different from its predecessor. But Smith’s recipe still works. And with added sophistication to his existing formula, Smith has created in Yoyo an album that’s even more compelling than Cola: there is no need for any big changes yet.

Rating: A-

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