Since forming a few years ago at Oberlin College, the dance duo Teengirl Fantasy have kept their fingers on the pulse of dance music's trends and subtly shifted accordingly. Nick Weiss and Logan Takahashi's subsequent successes, from an irreverently dance-y 2009 CD-R to a couple of solid full-length releases, can be largely attributed to this ability. Their records—including the foggy 2010 debut 7AM and 2012's more new age-y Tracer, which featured assists from Kelela and Laurel Halo—offered glimmers of potential and delivered the occasional standout (three years later, "Cheaters" is still something to behold), but in 2013, it still feels like they're searching for their own individual sound.
Released in anticipation of their third album, their new EP, Nun, finds them continuing this trend. Using Tracer as something of a launching pad, Nun finds Teengirl brightening familiar color pallettes in more noticeably energetic ways and heading in an even more dance-oriented direction with a look not dissimilar to the aesthetic developed by the UK label Night Slugs. "Eric", in particular, is a zippy track with cascading twinkles and manic, breaking drums; it's one of the most futuristic-sounding tracks Teengirl Fantasy have made.
Nun also marks the first time Weiss and Takahashi have put out a release without any vocal contributions. While their integration of the human voice into their aesthetic is one of their stronger suits (see their re-work of Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body"), their atmospheric lushness is enough here to stand on its own. The title track, for instance, is a fragile-yet-limber piece that, with aqueous bell tones and drainspout plunks, provides a heady but subtle little dancefloor treat.
All that said, to call the 13-minute Nun an EP feels a little disingenuous—it's more a double-sided single padded with two toss-offs tagged as "bonus" cuts. Those bonuses make for nice daydreams, and are certainly pretty, but they're ultimately inconsequential atmosphere exercises. So, as a band that's built a modest career on "promise" as opposed to "execution," it's safe to file Nun under "for fans only." But, judging from the proper tracks "Nun" and Eric", it also suggests that, once again, Teengirl Fantasy deserve a bit of space on your radar.
