Closer Musik were always Kompakt's best-kept secret. Known primarily for their contributions to Totals 2 und 3-- the anti-gravity ballad "One, Two, Three (No Gravity)" and the fat, chiming techno of "Departures", respectively-- the duo of Dirk Leyers and Matias Aguayo also released the criminally ignored After Love. The thick, throbbing electro (which sounds right on time in 2005) of After Love was a Trojan horse for Aguayo's lecherous whispers, which ranged from dirty ("ride ride me baby") to plain bizarre ("day by day I love to shave myself"-- wtf?).
When Closer Musik quietly imploded, the generally held belief was that Leyers was responsible for the musik and Aguayo for the sleaze that elevated it beyond straight techno/electro. Leyers' 2005 single "Wellen", also for Kompakt, reveled in the bubbling, melodic strains of CM tracks like "Departures" and "Maria". So it's unsurprising that Aguayo's debut album under his own name continues in the minimalist grind he brought to "Closer Dancer" and "Ride". Aguayo describes his music as "for the city and for the night," and Are You Really Lost? definitely fits that description, for better or worse.
Aguyao produced the album himself with help from Marcus Rossknecht, and the sound is noticeably thinned out from the Closer Musik days (no more wormlike basslines or bright, toppy melodics). This is a record designed for headphones; listened to at normal volume on a stereo, large swathes of it are swallowed up by its own dynamics. Aguayo's voice isn't quite so affected anymore; unfortunately, this has stripped his delivery of some of its charm and directness. Plus his lyrics are still largely nonsensical come-ons, that is when they're not husky breaths or sexual nonsense delivered as if it was going to magically unzip flies. When it works, as on the title track or "New Life", it's as odd and shivery as the Closer Musik material. When it doesn't, as on "Radiotaxi" or "So in Love", it just feels forced.
Like 2005's other electro-sleaze notable, Chelonis R. Jones' Dislocated Genius, Aguayo's debut isn't wholly successful. Sometimes in all the skittering rhythms and thick, musky, dusky production murk you long for a big fat hook. But Aguayo's vision is still creepy and seductive, especially when viewed through the de-sexualized lens of so much European house and techno. It's a bit like Ralf leaning over to slip his tongue in Florian's ear.
