Review
A slowed-down guitar sample melts into a low-slung, sliding bassline on "Precarious," a track that encapsulates the foggy, rain-slicked inertia of Joel Shanahan’s IV. Returning after a six-year hiatus, the Wisconsin-born producer retreats into the damp chill of Pacific Northwest winters, delivering a record that feels bound to both real-world environments and insular moods.
Critics note that Shanahan has not abandoned his foundations, having "rarely strayed far from the original blueprint" of subtly hypnotic deep house. Instead, IV sounds "appropriately muggy, introverted, and dense with evergreen IDM flourishes", matching dusty drum machine grids with warm, far-sighted synthesizer chords.
Even when the tempos slow to a "droney, syrupy crawl", the album remains structurally rigorous. By trading raw dancefloor euphoria for a pensive intimacy, Shanahan crafts a cohesive nightly excursion that rewards deep, patient listening.
