Merge

After four albums of expansive and expanding electro-psychedelia, swirling with sunshine harmonies and micro-mixed-for-the-hallucinations drum explosions, Dan Snaith was bound to come down sometime. On Swim, the hallucinations are revealed to be mere synthesizers, the cosmic portal only a dance floor, lit in gentle neon. Snaith is still plenty trippy (the processed vocals of “Found Out,” the clanging tones of “Bowls” ), but his organic snares have been replaced by their non-union programmed equivalents. The four-on-the-floor pulse of “Sun” briefly morphs into CGI droplets, but – like much of the album – never reaches overload. Like There Is Love In You, the new album from Kieran Hebden, Snaith’s electro-acoustic beatmaker comrade known as Four Tet, Swim trades exploration for grooving.