As a long running Steve Lawler fan (since Dark Drums and his Nubreed release), Viva Toronto was a refreshing new sound, and to me definitely a ground breaking album for Lawler, at a time when it seemed House music was become pretty staid. It didn't seem like there was anywhere to go but down from there.Hence, I didn't really get this album on first listen, but on the second listen, I fell right in love with Lights Out Decade. How would I describe it? It's unmistakably Lawler - back to tribal rhythms, foreign tongues and afro influences. There is a remix of Fela no less! It doesn't represent itself as an immediately 'modern' or innovative dance album, but true to Lawler's style, it's all in the details. Hidden in the shadows of the rhythms, are the intricate polyrhythms, reverberating with pulsing white noise, burbling vocal snippets, moans and scats. The tracks are beautifully spacious, allowing you to revel in the multi-tiered syncopations, and the voids in between. Apart from the obvious and very enjoyable 'Poison' by Lauhaus, most of the tracks are subtle in their mastery, riding along on minimal but driving rhythms, swampily filtered vocals and echos of the forrest. Where Viva Toronto (and indeed the Viva series generally) provides much more obvious hooks, this new edition in the Lights Out series (six years since Lights Out 3!?) runs deep. _Deep_. Flawlessly mixed, Lights Out Decade takes you on a sensual journey, drawing you into the trance, into the dark, relinquishing your inhibitions, as you give in to the rhythm's undeniable pull.Brilliant.