"The Present Lover" by Luomo is neither cross-genre exercise nor blind tribute, but something altogether more imaginative and strange – a rock-solid piece assembled from cracked components, a universal call drafted from so many levels of disrupted communication. It’s simultaneously accessible and deeply mysterious, a set of slinky exteriors wrapped around a spiky and desperate center as nervously detached as the album cover model’s emptily lustful gaze. What Delay’s second house outing loses in modesty it makes up for with a new brand of depth and complexity built from upturned expectation and a ready embrace of house’s many contradictory impulses. Whether a brilliant revision of what has come before or a template for things to come, The Present Lover is, in the immediate and sensual now, as taut and sexy as a black dress and as tantalizing as a half-heard whisper on the dancefloor – immediate, intriguing, essential. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.