This release, the second in a seven inch trilogy, sees a further distillation of the band’s gorgeous organically structured songwriting. These two pieces are instantly noticeable as more electronic sounding than the first instalment, even though some of the strongest melody lines here are analogue in origin.
"Dear John" (a dedication to the late John Peel) manages to expertly fine-tune an unhurried channel of electro into a hard shelled spindly projectile. Starting off sounding displaced from its dance floor / lino roots the rhythmic skeleton is progressively built up from intricate increments of bone to a digital cartilage tempo. Through brief radar bleeps heard via dusty filters and a swirl of amalgamated atmospheres, it begins to steadily find it feet. The jigsaw of static chops, smothered circuits and buzzing limbs hit the structure head on, molding the song into a whole. An oriental aura coats the piece’s sharp points, leaving a kind of brief smoldering afterburn in their wake.
The more immediate "Pick me up" is a very distant cousin (mainly in its use of guitar) to their "Come to Light." The song instantly settles into a melody supported by a delicate clockwork factory beat, system default bleeps unwind and restart on a rolling 3-D loop between the hits. These electronics mesh into and out of the rougher de-emphasized patches of metalwork percussion. Gentle helixes of picked guitar move, sliding into a whirl as harsh early acidic squelchy synths fizz. The production places a real importance on the building and removal of different elements to the fore while other parts morph away happily into the background; the process sounds more organic than mere fader manipulation. Hopefully all this seven inch action is building up to an LP release.
The more immediate "Pick me up" is a very distant cousin (mainly in its use of guitar) to their "Come to Light." The song instantly settles into a melody supported by a delicate clockwork factory beat, system default bleeps unwind and restart on a rolling 3-D loop between the hits. These electronics mesh into and out of the rougher de-emphasized patches of metalwork percussion. Gentle helixes of picked guitar move, sliding into a whirl as harsh early acidic squelchy synths fizz. The production places a real importance on the building and removal of different elements to the fore while other parts morph away happily into the background; the process sounds more organic than mere fader manipulation. Hopefully all this seven inch action is building up to an LP release.
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