by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

When Consciousology was released in 2023, Arcana noted its “dreamy textures and contours providing enchantment and, ultimately, escapism“. We also complemented Dot Allison’s vocals harking “back to some of the memorable folk-inflected voices of the  1960s and 1970s”.

Electronic beatsmith Lomond Campbell, however, has seen the potential to make this album “deeper, darker and dancier”, departing from the pastoral outdoors to take the music underground to a club. The pair were introduced by Hannah Peel, after which Campbell remixed Ghost Orchid, from her previous album Heart-Shaped Scars. So impressed was Allison that she asked him to remix the whole of Consciousology.

What’s the music like?

Campbell is notable for his consistently inventive approach to beat making and colour shading, and that is certainly the case here.

He has a refreshing originality that complements Allison’s thoughts and lyrics, too. Double Rainbow shifts restlessly, with added colour from arpeggiated synths. Allison’s haunting voice suits Campbell’s inventive beatmaking on Bleached By The Sun, which harks memories of Kavinsky’s Night Call – in a good way. Meanwhile Mother Tree breaks out into a psychedelic, dubby groove Andrew Weatherall would be proud of.

Weeping Roses is the real eyeopener, as it unexpectedly opens up into a big room floor filler, with what Allison notes is the “light and dark clash of worlds and sounds that Lomond has created from the roots and stems of the original.”

Comparisons are inevitably drawn with Allison’s work as part of One Dove, and in a good way – for electronic music feels not only like Dot Allison’s home turf, but an essential part of her musical make-up that drives a great deal of creativity.

Does it all work?

Yes – and it there is something refreshingly rugged about the end result, putting Dot Allison’s voice through a very different emotional wringer.

Is it recommended?

It is – but should be heard right next to the original, to appreciate Lomond Campbell’s creativity and Dot Allison’s emotional connections. Both forces are extremely well matched here.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,639 – Wednesday 26 August 2025