Lesser Known

Did You Know?

• Two singles were released: "Feels Like Heaven" on January 11, 2011, and "Rio" on February 17, 2011.
• The cover art was created with Elena Johnston, who chose the pictures and helped put the images together for what was described as "pretty ominous" artwork.

Production and composition

Benny Boeldt departed from the instrumental NES video game style of Adventure's 2008 debut, instead creating commemorative-sounding synthpop with live instruments and maximalist M83-esque non-computer-controlled synthesizers. He described the change as a "shift in consciousness" that allowed more flexible creation. Boeldt taught himself to sing while making the album, developing what he called "a nice vocal range" by the time he recorded the live instruments. The first half of Lesser Known consists of Pet Shop Boys and Yazz-influenced chillwave, while the latter half comprises acid house and rave music.

Reception

Reviews from music journalists upon release were generally mixed. Some critics disliked the album for the same perceived flaw as Adventure's debut: that it focused on recreating old music already easy to access online and on retro 1980s music stations, without crossing boundaries or taking chances. A critic from Under the Radar described Lesser Known as more "utterly predictable" than "nostalgic". Reviewers from Tiny Mix Tapes and NME expressed disappointment, writing that few tracks showed hints the album could have been more than a retro recreation.

In more favorable reviews, Pitchfork Media honored the record as a "riskily successful work of growth from Boeldt," praising his attempt at singing with "often great success" and writing that the album is about self-exploration in unexplored territory. A critic from The 405, while finding it not as good as Adventure's previous LP, called it a transitional release or experiment that does not fail. Andrew Hwang of The Line of Best Fit wrote that "Boeldt builds castles of Tetris bricks, where each beat hits and clicks right into place," but criticized the overly long lengths of some tracks, especially the dancey cuts in the second half.