Loidis' 111-Minute 'From the Toolkit of Lovers': A Review in Full

Loidis's new album From the Toolkit of Lovers runs 111 minutes across six sides of vinyl — and according to the Guardian's review, it is Brian Leeds's "grandest statement across either project."

Leeds, the US electronic producer also known as Huerco S, released the record on the label Incienso. The Guardian's critic judged that he goes "a long way towards justifying" its demanding scale.

How did Leeds get here?

The review traces a clear arc. Leeds's earlier work as Huerco S offered what the critic called "the audio equivalent of 5pm November gloaming": lo-fi, low-lumen ambient and house music, "flickering as if through a thicket of pine."

The light sharpened on his 2022 album Plonk. Under the Loidis name — on the 2024 album One Day and this year's remix of James K's Peel, which the critic calls "stunning" — the temperature rose along with the tempos. The result, in the reviewer's phrase, was "not quite Balearic summer, but certainly Baltic spring or Adriatic autumn."

What does the record actually sound like?

The review points to several concrete features:

• Tracks reminiscent of the microhouse sound of early-00s acts such as Luomo
• Synth chords with Leeds's "trademark degraded shimmer"
• "Ticklish snares" and "delightful ASMR-inducing sound design"
• Stereo effects "panning from right to left with quicksilver physicality"
• Big melodic motifs, including the playful echoing notes of "TT Stunt" and the Afrobeat bassline of "Running Rich"

The critic describes the listening experience as one of zooming in and out: marvelling at microscopic detail, then appreciating the overarching groove. The verdict on the strongest stretches is emphatic — "at least 90 of the minutes here are riveting, psychedelic even on nothing stronger than a cup of tea."

Is the whole 111 minutes sustained?

Not quite. The review concedes that "a couple of tracks in the second half lack the adventure elsewhere." That is the caveat attached to the album's promise: a grand scale mostly, but not entirely, earned.

The Guardian's review, published 23 October, stops short of a star rating in the excerpt available. What it does establish is a producer in mid-transition — from the chill of early Huerco S records toward warmer, faster, more detailed work — and an album that documents that shift at unusual length. Whether Leeds continues raising the temperature on future releases, or whether six sides of vinyl marks the peak of his ambition, is the question his next record will have to answer.