When the chillwave/glo-fi/summergaze genre fad began to die off in the early 2000-noughts, a couple of artists were casualties to the loss of interest. Some musicians, like Com Truise and Washed Out, suffered notable decreases in listenership just as they were coming into their own, while others, like Neon Indian, tried to reinvent their sound to variable success in order to stay relevant in the blogosphere. However, IDM wiz Scott Hansen, also known as Tycho, had been around for years before the word "chillwave" even popped into the minds of bloggers the world over. His first two albums were modest, if obscure, releases, but his 2011 cult classic "Dive" was really when people began to pay attention. It was categorized as chillwave at the time of release by a lot of internet people, (though it was really closer to ambient and IDM, as reviewers noted), but unlike the other artists in the dying genre, "Dive" had people seriously moved and loyal to it almost immediately. The sunlight-smeared synth melodies, the musical motifs that harkened to the last time you sat at a beach with your friends, pounding down brewskies while you watched the waves roll in, the somewhat repetitive, hypnotic grooves - it really clicked with people. To this day, wherever there's a thread on a forum asking for summertime music, there is a post with one recommendation: "Tycho - Dive. That's all you need."

So, how do you follow up such a beloved record? You make it again, of course! Okay, that's not exactly fair. Tycho has made some pretty big changes following "Dive". Instead of one person, Tycho is now a band, with actual guitar, bass, and drums. Undoubtedly a move to be seen as less of a producer and more of a performer, this change, while noticeable on the new record "Awake", doesn't have a whole lot of an impact on Tycho's sound as a whole, for better or worse. He still plays with the same general set of ideas, and the sound is still very much like what made "Dive" so replayable, but by and large "Awake" struggles to differentiate itself from "Dive" enough to be particularly memorable. Opening track "Awake" feels like a near carbon copy of "A Walk", with an overly familiar melody that is played by a guitar this time instead of a synthesizer. There's an honest effort at polishing and refining a trademark sound here, but when he sticks to that sound, it basically amounts to him now being a one trick pony that makes "chill" music; everyone who isn't stoned will be left a little disappointed by the complacency.

Despite the move away from pure electronic instrumentation, though, songs like "Dye" use typical dance music structure and shuffling percussion, also including a "drop", indicating that Tycho isn't entirely ready to commit to dropping his IDM/EDM impulses. Either way, these spots are where the album shines the most, as it's Tycho working within his comfort zone like in older albums such as "Past is Prologue". When the pretense of using the repetitious and wistful synths/guitars is dropped, the album shows signs of life.

Whether or not this album will appeal to you ultimately comes down to how much enjoyment you got out of "Dive" and your willingness to hear more of the same downtempo "chill" tunes. Tycho's ambivalence towards progressing his sound is more frustrating than comforting, as the "been there, done that" maxim keeps coming to me throughout my experience with "Awake". Whether he pursues a more analog, fleshed out band sound or reverts to his techno/IDM roots, (or a combination of the two) for his next album, any significant change in his sound would be a better idea than aping the "Dive" sound for a third time. And if you disagree, how stoned must you be? 6.8