n.Lannon - Falling Inside (2015)

Marin native Nyles Lannon, aka n.Lannon, a musician and composer best known for his work with his band Film School, turns in this skillfully produced solo album, his third, in the esoteric genre known as folktronica.

Lannon, who lives in San Rafael with his wife and two children, blends the sound of acoustic folk pop with modern electronica on the 11 songs on “Falling Inside,” an album he wrote, produced and performed with help from drummers Alex Kemp and Jimmy Haun, and some vocal support on a couple of tracks by Kristin Dyrud and Odessa Chen.

Lannon, whose last album, “Chemical Friends,” got him named SF Weekly’s “best folktronica artist,” sets the tone early on the opening “Kill All These Machines,” a track that percolates along with woody percussion, finger-strummed acoustic guitar, samples from old Persian records, backwards electric guitars and a throaty bass drum sound produced by one of Roland’s first programmable drum machines. Lannon’s breathy, tenor vocals emerge from this spacey mix in a soft near whisper reminiscent of Elliott Smith.

He picks up the pace with the electro-folk landscape he creates on “Dreamer,” the album’s first single, singing an ear candy melody line, acoustic guitars and synths punctuated by explosive bursts of percussion.

“The song is about being manipulated by a non-dreamer,” Lannon says. “We get preyed upon sometimes and we find ourselves hanging out with the wrong people, in bad relationships, being manipulated by bad advisors, schemers. We are heavily influenced and we learn things the hard way. Ultimately, though, we see things for what they are, we keep dreaming and we heal and move on.”

That’s nice to know. In the meantime, this album at least provides us with a sweet, symphonic respite from the schemers and non-dreamers.