Having hinted at a more electronic direction with Ever, Love Spirals Downwards fully embraced this new sonic territory with their fourth and final studio album, Flux (1998). This marked the most dramatic transformation in the band’s sound, as Ryan Lum fully embraced electronic music, leaving behind much of the shoegaze, darkwave, and acoustic-driven atmospheres of earlier records. While Idylls (1992) and Ardor (1994) had been centered on ethereal guitar work, and Ever (1996) had hinted at electronic elements, Flux pushed further, merging breakbeats, downtempo rhythms, and drum & bass textures into Love Spirals Downwards’ signature ethereal aesthetic.
Despite being unlike anything Projekt Records had released before, Flux was widely praised by critics, embraced by longtime fans, and even featured on WB’s Dawson’s Creek in 2001. Over time, it has come to be regarded as one of the most forward-thinking releases in the Projekt catalog, demonstrating how electronic music could coexist with atmospheric, dreamlike songwriting.
From Shoegaze to Breakbeats: A New Sonic Horizon
While Ever had already introduced digital manipulation and electronic layering, it remained a hybrid record, blending acoustic folk, ambient textures, and early electronic flourishes. Flux went further by placing rhythm and electronic production at the core of the songwriting process.
Ryan Lum’s evolving musical direction was heavily influenced by his immersion in electronic music culture. In a revealing 1999 interview with DJ Gary Liu on KUCI 88.9 FM’s Riders of the Plastic Groove, Lum discussed the pivotal moment he encountered drum & bass:
“When LTJ Bukem’s ‘Logical Progressions’ came out, I guess it was 3 years ago or so, that was a life changing CD. It kinda ended our shoegazer sound we had, that Cocteau Twins/Slowdive thing on our previous album, ‘Ever.’ Our latest album, ‘Flux,’ is pretty much a drum n bass –at times downtempo– record. It’s all pop though, it’s got vocals, guitar, but it’s very inspired by drum n bass music.”
DJ Gary Liu astutely observed the changing musical landscape, noting,
“Well it seems to me that music itself has changed in that kinda direction. If you look at it, the whole shoegazer scene has kinda faded away and drum and bass is being brought to the forefront, so you guys are just on top of it.”
Lum further elaborated on the reaction to this significant sonic shift, telling Liu:
“I was surprised by how few people seemed shocked by it! I guess people that liked our sound before –if they truly liked it– they liked our new sound, too. It still has all the mood and feeling as our old music, it just has more drums, so as long as you’re not beatophobic — and there are those out there, trust me, I’ve met a few people who just can’t like our album because of the beats. They said, ‘Just get rid of the drums and I’ll like it,’ and I go, ‘It’ll be really boring then!’ So, assuming you’re not the beatophobic type, yeah, most people have gone along with it. I’m surprised by how many people think it’s our best record. I think it’s our best record.”
In a previous interview with Fix Magazine 1998, Lum expanded on this shift:
“When I finish a record, I don’t like to make the next record sound like the previous one. I like to change things up. A few months after Ever, I started hearing LTJ Bukem and stuff off his label, like PFM, Seba & Lo-Tek, off the Logical Progressions compilation. It blew my mind in the sense that it was as beautiful and ethereal and pretty as anything I’ve ever listened to, like the Cocteau Twins, and yet it was definitely electronic music. It’s the perfect fusion of beauty and bliss and electronica. That was an inspiration.” 1
By the time Flux was recorded, Lum had fully embraced electronic production, drawing inspiration from trip-hop, drum & bass, and downtempo artists who incorporated sampling and looping into their music. His favorite albums of 1998 reflected this shift:
- Massive Attack – Mezzanine (a key inspiration for Flux’s darker, atmospheric grooves)
- Air – Moon Safari (which helped shape the album’s downtempo, dreamy aesthetic)
- Perfume Tree – Feeler (a clear parallel to Flux’s fusion of trip-hop, drum & bass, and ethereal vocals)
- LTJ Bukem – Earth Vol. 3 (reinforcing Lum’s passion for ambient drum & bass and downtempo textures)
- Soundtrack to Pi (notable for its blend of electronic beats and haunting atmospheres)
These influences shaped Lum’s production techniques, particularly his use of sampled, looped, or fragmented vocals, a style embraced by LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking Records crew, Massive Attack, Perfume Tree, and many of the artists from the PI soundtrack.
Building Flux: A Digital Revolution
In stark contrast to their earlier analog recordings on an 8-track, Flux embraced a fully digital workflow. This technological shift involved a suite of tools:
- Cubase for MIDI sequencing
- Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler for drum loops and vocal samples
- Sony MDMX-4 to sync vocals to MIDI sequences
- Steinberg ReCycle for slicing drum breaks
- Roland TR-606 for programming beats
- Roland Juno-106 for bass lines and string pads
- Korg Prophecy for arpeggiated leads and synth washes
- Lexicon PCM 70 for lush guitar ambiance
Ryan Lum elaborated on his choice of the Sony MDM-X4 in a 1999 Sony Soundbyte interview, stating:
“For Flux, I chose the Sony MDM-X4 because it allowed me to sync vocals seamlessly with my MIDI tracks and offered hard disk-like editing, which competing products lacked. The sophisticated editing allowed me to copy and paste audio, and rearrange songs after recording. For example, on ‘Ring,’ I added a guitar solo after the vocals were done, simply by adding a track.”
This level of digital flexibility allowed Lum to refine the songs in ways that would have been impossible with traditional analog recording, marking a significant departure from Love Spirals Downwards’ earlier methods. Lum explained this shift in Losing Today (1999):
“Right now it’s tapeless. I’m doing it all off a hard drive—digital audio. The kind of music I make, it’s great for that, ‘cause I’m always cutting and pasting stuff all over the place. I rarely ever lay down four minutes of an instrument. I usually just put down a little bit and move it all around.”
This digital workflow allowed for precise vocal sampling, intricate beat layering, and a richer sonic palette, fundamentally changing Lum’s approach to composition.
In Keyboard Magazine (1999), Lum admitted:
“Getting new gear—for me—is what makes records. I am just amazed at how much great stuff is out there. It’s such a fun time to be making music.”
Vocal Sampling as an Artistic Evolution
As Flux moved further into electronic production, Ryan Lum’s approach to vocals evolved alongside his use of breakbeats and sampling. Rather than structuring songs around traditional lyrical melodies, he manipulated and repurposed vocals as textural elements, weaving them into the rhythmic and atmospheric framework of each track.
This sample-driven approach is most evident in:
- “Nova” – A mostly instrumental drum & bass piece, featuring a single, heavily processed vocal sample as a bridge, reinforcing its hypnotic, textural feel.
- “I’ll Always Love You” –Instead of structured lyrics, the song repeats a single word (“misunderstood“) throughout, reflecting the techniques found in downtempo and drum & bass production.
- “Sound of Waves” – Perry’s ethereal, ambiguous vocalizations float over a downtempo beat, recalling her phonetic singing on past albums but with a more repetitive, minimalistic delivery that enhances the song’s meditative feel.
- “Sunset Bell” – Originally recorded in 1994 with Jennifer Ryan Fuller for Ardor, Lum resampled Fuller’s wordless “la la la” phrases transforming them into a techno-inspired arrangement that bridges organic and electronic textures.
Still, Flux was not entirely dependent on sampled vocals. Several tracks featured full, structured vocal performances, connecting back to Love Spirals Downwards’ earlier songwriting approach while blending seamlessly into the album’s electronic evolution.
City Moon – An Unlikely Anthem
More than two decades after its release, “City Moon” has emerged as the most-streamed Love Spirals Downwards song on Spotify and Apple Music, despite never being released as a single, having a music video, or being performed live. Its unexpected popularity speaks to the enduring resonance of Flux and its ability to find new listeners long after its initial release.
As the opening track of Flux, “City Moon” immediately sets a relaxing urban-meets-celestial atmosphere. The song begins with a 53-second instrumental introduction, blending mellow acoustic guitar, gentle trip-hop beats, and Lum’s signature ethereal electric guitar textures, before Suzanne Perry’s soft and dreamy vocals enter with the lines, “Oh oh oh / Bad moon/ You were more to me.” The chorus, with its evocative lines, “And yellow time is overhead / Unchanging things imprinted / Can it all be clear?” hints at a deepervexploration of time, memory, and longing.
Adding to its legacy, “City Moon” was featured on the final installment of Hyperium Records’ Heavenly Voices compilation series in 1998. This placement marked a fitting full-circle moment—Hyperium had played a pivotal role in introducing Love Spirals Downwards to a European audience, releasing their first two albums in Germany and including their music on numerous compilations throughout the 1990s. Its selection for Heavenly Voices VI affirmed that, even as the band evolved sonically, their music remained deeply connected to the ethereal wave movement that had embraced them from the beginning.
Alicia – A Flamenco-Tinged Dream
Among Flux’s more vocally prominent tracks, ‘Alicia’ distinguishes itself with its captivating vocal harmonies and evocative use of language. While Ryan Lum’s production embraces drum & bass rhythms, Suzanne Perry’s performance maintains a melancholic, ethereal quality.
Perry’s lyrics, a blend of genuine and invented Spanish-inspired phrases, continue her established practice of weaving foreign language fragments with made-up words—a technique evident in her earlier work including “Mediterranea,” “Dead Language,” and “Lieberflusse.” This approach adds a layer of mystique and ambiguity, enhancing the song’s dreamlike feel.
The chorus, with its evocative lines “Bella quartova / Su sol / Hiereme,” captures a sense of longing and distance, echoing Flux’s recurring themes of transformation and emotional detachment. Roughly translated as “Beautiful room / Your sun / Hurts me,” these phrases convey a poignant sense of loss and yearning.
Adding to the song’s melodic richness, guest musician Rodney Rodriguez (of The Von Trapps) contributes an acoustic guitar solo, lending “Alicia” a flamenco-tinged warmth that creates a unique sonic texture within the album. This unexpected fusion of drum & bass with Spanish guitar highlights Flux’s experimental spirit, blending diverse musical influences.
By Your Side – A Soulful Departure
Midway through Flux, “By Your Side” stands out as one of the album’s most emotionally open and lyrically direct tracks. Stripping away the layered harmonies and ethereal effects that often defined her vocals, Suzanne Perry delivers a performance in her lower register, raw and unembellished. The result is a grounded, intimate moment that contrasts sharply with her signature heavenly voices style.
Lyrically, “By Your Side” leans toward direct emotional expression, exchanging Perry’s usual veiled abstraction for a more immediate, yearning tone. While “City Moon” and “Alicia” evoke dreamlike surrealism, “By Your Side” drifts between intimacy and distance, using water and celestial imagery as metaphors for devotion and separation:
“Crossing this ocean’s too wide / How could that warmth be the right sky? / Crossing to be by your side / Right by your side.”
There’s still a sense of mystery—lines like “How could that warmth be the right sky?” feel open to interpretation—but the song’s repetition of “right by your side” gives it an emotional clarity that makes it stand out on the album.
Ryan Lum had cited Walking Wounded by Everything But the Girl as one of his favorite albums of 1996, alongside releases from Mojave 3, Perfume Tree, and LTJ Bukem—a sign that the fusion of soulful vocals with electronic production may have influenced Flux. Perry’s earthier vocal delivery on “By Your Side” even recalls elements of Tracey Thorn’s restrained yet deeply expressive style.
As noted in the 2024 Flux vinyl liner notes, the song’s imagery of movement and longing ties into the album’s broader thematic shift:
“The environments conjured up by Flux may be considerably more sleek and urban, but they’re no less evocative, particularly when Perry sings… ‘I’d cross the ocean / Just to be there by your side / I’ve felt the water / As its river flows to dry.’”
Even though Flux marked a departure from Love Spirals Downwards’ earlier shoegaze and folk-infused soundscapes, “By Your Side” proves that Perry’s voice—stripped down and lower in tone—could still evoke the haunting beauty that defined the band’s legacy.
Kristen Perry – Mythology and Mainstream Success
As Suzanne Perry’s presence in the band became increasingly sporadic, Kristen Perry stepped in to fill the gap, contributing lead vocals to “Psyche” and “Ring.” While most listeners didn’t notice the vocalist change, publications like Carpe Noctem observed:
“One interesting aspect of Flux is that one of the two additional vocalists—whose timbre seamlessly dovetails with Suzanne’s—just happens to be her sister.”
Kristen’s songwriting also brought a distinct literary and mythological element to the album. “Psyche” was inspired by the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros, meditating on themes of love and redemption:
“I held the lamp, suspicion beheld me his face / I loved him blindly, never saw his face by day.”
Meanwhile, “Ring” drew from Celtic folklore and W.B. Yeats’ poetry, weaving an ethereal, enchanted escape into the supernatural:
“Come away, with me, oh human child / To the waters and the wild. With a faerie hand in hand.”
Kristen’s contributions unexpectedly introduced Flux to a mainstream audience when “Psyche” was featured in a 2001 episode of Dawson’s Creek. Originally airing in the season five premiere, “The Bostonians,” the episode reached 4.47 million viewers and was broadcast in over 50 countries, with reruns and DVD releases keeping the song in circulation for years.
While Kristen’s involvement expanded the band’s thematic scope, her return also revived long-standing creative tensions—a dynamic that would play a greater role in Flux‘s larger narrative.
Creative Tensions Arise: Suzanne Perry’s Role and Flux’s Evolution
Despite its critical acclaim, Flux marked a turning point for Love Spirals Downwards, reflecting not only a dramatic musical shift but also growing creative tensions between its core members. As Suzanne Perry’s focus moved towards her academic and professional life, her involvement in the band’s creative process lessened, contrasting with Ryan Lum’s increasing dedication to music.
In an interview with The All Purpose Nuclear Bedtime Story on KUCI shortly before Flux was released, Lum spoke of his commitment to completing the album:
“After the album’s done next month I can start doing other fun things that I’ve been putting off out of necessity. I’m just trying to direct all my energy, my momentum into finishing this record up. I’ve been working pretty hard on it for about a year — really hard since summer — and I just wanna finish it.
With Ardor, Lum had turned to studio techniques and a guest vocalist to compensate for Perry’s absence, and with Ever, he began incorporating samplers and digital production. By Flux, the transformation was complete: Perry, focused on her career in social policy research, was becoming less involved, while Lum was fully immersed in electronic production.
In a 1995 Muse interview, Perry had already made it clear that the band was not her priority:
“I have a professional life that’s very analytical and my leisure, which is singing. Love Spirals Downwards is really confined to this one part of my life, to specific circumstances.”
That same year, she downplayed her engagement even further, telling Philip H. Farber of Paradigm Shift:
“I don’t even remember that I do music, most of the time. It’s not like I’ll be at work or in my regular day and I’ll think about music, or a song, or performing, or anything—unless I’m worried about it.”
Lum echoed this sentiment, acknowledging that Perry’s participation in the band had always been sporadic:
“Suzanne only works on music once in a while. It’s usually me that is constantly working on stuff.”
By the time Flux was being written and recorded, the gap between their creative priorities had only widened. Perry admitted in Fix Magazine:
“Usually, it’s more of a collaborative effort. It’s not that this one wasn’t, but he took it in directions that I wouldn’t necessarily have gone if I was there at every moment. It’s more of Ryan’s work. It’s something that he fashioned out of his own likings.”
As Perry’s involvement waned, Kristen Perry emerged as an increasingly viable collaborator, filling in as both a vocalist and songwriter. Lum admitted in Fix:
“I don’t think Suzanne was as easily able to make parts for this kind of music as she was for the more acoustic-based music. Her sister, on the other hand, was making up parts left and right, so it kind of worked out.”
However, Kristen’s return wasn’t without complications. Suzanne had long been wary of her sister’s involvement, recalling in a 1992 Altered Mind interview:
“It’s funny because I was in London at the time going to school, and he was sending me tapes with my sister on it, and I thought, ‘I can sing that. In fact, I can sing that better!’ Then I kind of came back, and we started doing it.”
The sibling rivalry was well known—to the point that even interviewers joked about it. In Fond Affexxions, Jon Gonzales groaned, “Not your sister again, not the sibling rivalry again!” to which Suzanne simply replied, “I know, I know.”
While this rivalry simmered in the background, the larger reality was that Suzanne simply wasn’t as present for Flux as she had been on earlier albums. Lum, in contrast, was fully immersed in production, even preparing to take the new material into a live setting without Perry. In KUCI interview with The All Purpose Nuclear Bedtime Story, he described plans to perform solo using samples of her vocals:
“I was gonna play some of our new stuff without Suzanne. Just come and play the music and samples of her and other stuff, and kinda rock that all together live.”
By the time Flux was released, public speculation about the band’s creative divide had grown.
Controversy and Projekt’s Uneasy Relationship with Love Spirals Downwards
The controversy surrounding Flux wasn’t just about its sound—it also reflected Love Spirals Downwards’ uneasy relationship with the goth scene. Despite being signed to Projekt and embraced by darkwave fans, the band had never fully identified with the goth label. In Fix, Daniel Bremmer noted that while their first three albums sonically fit alongside other ethereal acts, LSD had often been reluctant to align themselves with the scene.
This tension was particularly evident in their live performances, many of which were marketed as gothic events. One such example was ProjektFest ’98 in Los Angeles, where LSD performed alongside other Projekt artists. However, Perry later made waves when she publicly criticized Coven 13’s resident DJ, Jason Lavitt, for his setlist choices:
“He’ll play the same records next week, and the week after, and the week after that! As though he has not been playing them since 1985 or something? That’s pathetic. I’m embarrassed for those people.”
While Perry’s comments were specifically to the club promoter/DJ, the fact that her critique was aimed at someone associated with ProjektFest LA itself only heightened the friction. Already, Flux had pushed Love Spirals Downwards away from the label’s ethereal aesthetic; now, Perry’s remarks reinforced the idea that the band was distancing itself from Projekt’s core audience.
Perry later addressed the Fix article’s portrayal of these tensions on Space Disco For Fish Tacos, offering a tongue-in-cheek response:
“Let’s talk about how good that album is. If you’ve heard me speak about the album any other times, I’ve completely switched my opinion now. My promotions people have talked to me. I love it. Everything is so great! That’s what people want to hear—how wonderful everything is and what a wonderful process it was making the album. They don’t want to hear the truth.”
Host Daniel Bremmer (aka 9-5 Superspy), who also wrote the Fix article, dismissed the controversy as “silly” and called Flux his favorite album. Perry, however, acknowledged the divide more seriously:
“I think one of the big issues is it’s not maybe a Projekt-y sound, you know, and I think that has made the whole thing more controversial. So people have jumped on this thing that ‘Suzanne doesn’t like it and Ryan does!’ You know? I don’t know.”
It was true that Projekt Records founder Sam Rosenthal initially questioned whether Flux fit the label’s ethereal aesthetic, but as Lum recalled in a 2000 RadioSpy interview:
“It’s not his cup of tea, but we more or less have artistic freedom to do as we please. We proved with Flux—even though we made an album that’s so different from anything else on the label—people didn’t complain. He thought that people were going to say that Projekt—or someone—sold out, and none of that came out.”
Though Flux stood apart from the rest of Projekt’s catalog, it ultimately found its place, proving that the label’s audience was more open to evolution than expected. In the end, Flux was not just a musical departure but a reflection of the personal and creative fractures within the band.
As Jason Moore of Opus Zine wrote in the liner notes for the 2024 Flux vinyl reissue:
“By the time Flux was recorded, Lum and Perry’s relationship had ended, and disagreements over the music only deepened the divide. Shortly after its release, they went their separate ways.”
Though their partnership dissolved, the echoes of their collaboration remain woven into the fabric of Flux—an album as defined by its creative experimentation as it is by the bittersweet unraveling that shaped it.
Love Spirals Downwards’ Final Concert: Projekt Festival ‘98
Love Spirals Downwards played their final concert at Projekt Festival ‘98 on March 15, 1998, at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. Organized by Projekt Records founder Sam Rosenthal, the festival aimed to showcase the label’s artists live—an uncommon experience, as many, including Love Spirals Downwards, primarily focused on studio work.
In a January 1998 blog post, Ryan Lum acknowledged their reluctance toward live performances, writing:
“Some of you know that Suzanne and I are not exactly blissful about festival shows, so this will be our last festival performance and your last opportunity to see us at one.”
A Mean Streets So Cal article from March 1998 further revealed Lum’s anticipation of the band’s sonic evolution. He cited a growing interest in “melodic futuristic drum and bass” artists like LTJ Bukem and Photek and hinted at Flux’s forthcoming “ethereal breakbeat” sound. He also expressed uncertainty about their live setup:
“It can go a hundred different ways—all acoustic, all electronic, maybe have different people appearing with us onstage, maybe not. I’ve been working on it for two months and I still don’t know! I do know that I don’t want to have to go out there and change people’s minds or make converts.”
This reflected Lum’s focus on artistic exploration and his desire to avoid simply replicating their studio sound live.
For this final performance, Lum assembled a live band featuring Rodney Rodriguez (guest musician on “Alicia”) on guitar, Drew Pluta of Arcanta on electronic drums and backing vocals, Suzanne Perry on vocals and egg shaker, and Lum alternating between acoustic guitar and bass. DAT backing tracks filled in the electronic elements. The set balanced old and new material—acoustic renditions of early songs alongside newer tracks enhanced with live percussion and electronics.
The biggest surprise came in the encore: an ethereal cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” Perry’s airy vocals gave the song a ghostly quality, while Pluta’s harmonies added rare depth, marking the only time the band featured another vocalist live.
An Outburn review noted the contrast between the band’s evolving sound and the festival setting:
“Love Spirals Downwards’ radiant songs were enhanced by an additional guitarist and an electronic drummer to ‘add some get’ to their usually acoustic set. The best songs came at the beginning, where they worked some cool beats and electronics into their acoustic sounds. Unfortunately, the lovely and mellow mood was disrupted repeatedly by Suzanne Perry’s lengthy chit-chat and attempted conversations with the audience, but the songs were enjoyed nevertheless.”
Though this would be their last official concert, Flux had one final live moment on the airwaves before the band’s shift toward electronic music culture.
Final Live Appearance: Space Disco for Fish Tacos
Though ProjektFest ’98 was their last stage concert, Love Spirals Downwards played one final live set together. On December 16, 1998, they appeared on KUCI 88.9 FM’s Space Disco for Fish Tacos, performing a handful of songs, including “Alicia” and “Sound of Waves,” using a backing track on DAT. After the performance, they were interviewed by Daniel Bremmer (aka DJ 9-5 Superspy), marking their last live radio appearance as a band. From this point forward, Ryan Lum found a new way to present Flux—as a DJ, blending its ethereal beats into electronic music spaces.
Remixing Flux: Lum’s Expansion Into DJ Culture
As part of the promotional cycle for Flux, Ryan Lum fully immersed himself in electronic music culture—not just as a musician, but as a DJ. While Love Spirals Downwards only performed live twice in this era, Lum took the project into clubs, underground spaces, and radio airwaves through a series of DJ performances focused on downtempo, drum & bass, and ethereal electronic sounds.
Between 1998 and 2000, he played sets at venues like Spaceland in Los Angeles, La Belle Epoque in San Francisco, and Virgin Megastore in Hollywood, as well as at electronic music nights such as Nightnoise, Dervish, and Sterile. His DJ appearances extended to radio, with multiple guest spots on KUCI 88.9 FM’s Space Disco for Fish Tacos and Riders of the Plastic Groove. He also performed at larger events, including Caffeinated at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, the B-Sides Y2K Party in Big Bear, and the Family 6th Year Anniversary in Los Angeles.
In a 1999 interview on KUCI 88.9 FM’s Space Disco for Fish Tacos, Lum discussed his foray into DJing with host Gary Liu:
Gary: “If I may ask, how long have you been DJing?”
Ryan: “Not long, actually. It’s something I just started last year. I’ve always wanted to and I finally said, ‘I’m just gonna do it!’ Ya know? It’s cool to go from music into deejaying. Usually you see it the other way around with DJs making music. I think it’s cool to already know about music, how to make music, how to play instruments, you know? Something DJs usually don’t know how to do. I think it’s cool to go from a music standpoint and then go over to deejaying. It’s easier, I think. deejaying is not quite as tough as making an album.”
Gary: “So coming in as a musician to deejaying is a less jarring transition?”
Ryan: “Yeah, fewer things to learn. I mean, it is a really skillful art. I respect people who do it well and I’m still learning a lot. That’s one reason why I wanted to do it. It’s something that I did’t do before, there’s a lot to learn, and it’s cool Im experiencing music in ways I wasn’t able to before.”
This move into deejaying allowed Lum to further explore the electronic soundscapes that defined Flux in a live setting, connecting with audiences in a new and direct way. His perspective on coming to deejaying as a seasoned musician offers a unique insight into his evolving relationship with music.
As Flux evolved from a live act to a DJ-driven experience, Lum’s remixes of ‘Alicia’ and ‘Misunderstood’ extended the album’s reach, cementing Love Spirals Downwards’ legacy as a boundary-pushing project that bridged ethereal music and electronic innovation.
A Bold Departure: The Acclaim for Flux
Though Flux marked a dramatic departure from Love Spirals Downwards’ earlier work, it was widely acclaimed:
- Pitchfork (1998): “Within minutes of listening to this disc, you’ll think that Love Spirals Downwards has been doing this for years and everybody else is just way behind the times.”
- Option Magazine (1998): “A great, contemporary record. It’s one of the best things I’ve heard in months.“
- Carpe Noctem (1998): “Flux may just elevate the band into a broader realm of exposure beyond the goth scene.”
- Keyboard (1999): “An album of uncommon character. The organic feel of Lum’s experienced guitar playing smooths out the gushing beats by adding mellow polyrhythmic contrast.”
- URB Magazine (2000): “A seamless hybrid of trip-hop, dream pop, and drum & bass.”
- Opus Zine (2000): “Incredibly listenable and quite beautiful. I’m quite taken by this, and it’s probably one of my favorite albums to come out on Projekt.”
Additionally, Flux was featured in Borders listening stations from September through mid-November 1998 across all Borders locations, as well as in listening stations at select Virgin, Media Play, and Tower Records stores.
Flux tracks appeared on a number of compilations, further extending the albums reach. Notable inclusions include:
- The Projekt Sampler (1998) — “By Your Side”
- Heavenly Voices Part V (1998) — “City Moon”
- Carpe Noctem 1 (1998) — “By Your Side”
- Loraine: A KUCI 88.9FM Benefit Compilation (1998) — “Nova”
- Diva X Machina 3 (2000) — “Alicia (1999 Remix)”
- Heartbeats (2000) — “Psyche”
Resonance and Reissue: The Enduring Legacy of Flux
Beyond its initial critical acclaim, Flux has continued to resonate with listeners and artists, solidifying its position as a groundbreaking work, even decades later. As DJ Gary Liu noted in his 1999 interview with Ryan Lum on KUCI’s Riders of the Plastic Groove, the shoegazer scene was fading while drum and bass was gaining prominence. This observation underscores the timeliness of Flux‘s sonic shift, positioning Love Spirals Downwards at the forefront of this evolving musical landscape. Lum himself described Flux as “pretty much a drum n bass –at times downtempo– record” with pop sensibilities, further emphasizing its forward-thinking blend of genres that continues to intrigue listeners today.
In 2013, Walter of Fietsers Afstappen wrote a blog post called Flux: The Album that Should Have Been a Genre. He summarized, “Fifteen years on, Flux remains a uniquely brilliant album, a potential genre-defining masterpiece that, tragically, never spawned the imitators it deserved. Its blend of danceable yet atmospheric beauty is unparalleled, and its descent into relative obscurity is not just a shame, but a disgrace.” This passionate assessment underscores the album’s unique qualities and the sense of missed opportunity.
In 2018, Flux was ranked #64 on Post-Punk.com’s Post-Punk Definitive Dreaminess: 100 Essential Dream Pop Releases, with the site stating, “Flux incorporated skittering, downtempo trip hop and drum & bass rhythmic elements, oddly rendering their music even more intoxicating and opaque. Tracks like the peerless ‘City Moon,’ ‘By Your Side,’ and pulsating epic closer ‘Sunset Bell’ felt like being trapped in a waking dream that you never wanted to end.”
The album’s enduring appeal led to a 2023 expanded, remastered digital release, followed by a 2024 vinyl edition from Lost in Ohio Records, making it available on LP for the first time. A Discogs review reads, “This is a beautiful package, and a lovely first-issue of an album 26 years after release. The white vinyl is heavyweight and dead silent, the sleeve has a great feel to it and is faithfully reproduced, and the liner notes are a real treasure.” This comment highlights the care and attention to detail that went into the reissue, emphasizing the album’s continued appeal to collectors and audiophiles.
A New Generation Discovers Flux
The album’s continued influence is vividly illustrated by music journalist Marg.mp3. In a 2020 review, she praised Flux as a “veryyy cool record” that blends “dream pop, electronica and DnB in a way that’s moody and ambient, creating spooky, dubby techno soundscapes,” reminiscent of “the dreaminess of Cocteau Twins” and “the atmospheric trip-hop sound of Portishead.” Notably, she also connected Flux to modern artists like the critically acclaimed Danish singer/songwriter/producer Erika de Casier, suggesting, “if you like Erika de Casier’s Essentials, I think you’d like this!”
This connection became especially significant in a 2024 video interview where Marg.mp3 asked de Casier, “What was the last album you listened to that really stuck with you?” De Casier chose Flux, citing “City Moon” as an immediate favorite and praising the “beautiful” mixture of drum & bass and ethereal vocals. This resurgence in interest among a younger audience, exploring the sounds of 90s electronica, underscores Flux‘s enduring appeal and its ability to resonate with contemporary artists and listeners across international borders.
As Flux continues to find new listeners, its reissue has provided longtime fans and newcomers alike with a renewed appreciation for the band’s innovative sound. Though it marked the final chapter of their studio albums, Love Spirals Downwards left one more parting gift—a retrospective collection that encapsulated their full artistic evolution: Temporal: A Collection of Music Past & Present (2000).