FRIDGE - Happiness

Fridge, trio formed in South London in the mid nineties by then collegians Kieran Hebden, Adem Ilhan and Sam Jeffers, have always privileged an unconventional approach to rock. The rather classic guitar/bass/drum formation originally adopted has long been turned into something more complex, with more and more elements of avant-garde electronica distorting the traditional soundscapes to the point where Fridge has become totally unclassifiable. Neither rock nor post-rock nor leftield, with rudiments of each colliding constantly against others, Fridge have long transcended the notion of genres.
For this fourth Fridge album, the trio have cut on titles with evocative or obscure meanings, and, instead, only offer a description of elements of sounds found on each track. For instance, Melodica & Trombone, which opens the album, is based around a melodica… and a trombone. This unusual process, if not totally revolutionary, allows the compositions to breath more freely, as very little comes between the musicians and the listeners to distract the mind from the work. Perhaps even more so than its predecessors, Happiness is intricate and minimalist, each track being based on a very few sounds, which are altered, twisted and recycled indefinitely, in a similar way to Hebden’s solo work on his Four Tet project perhaps. The compositions here are, however, far more abstract and monochrome, and evokes the same bare, primitive, atmospheres as Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Work Volume 2. Drum Machines & Glockenspiels, Cut Up Piano & Xylophone or Sample & Clicks are among the most arid moments of Happiness. Here, the melodies are barely existent, overcome by the complexity of the incandescent arrangements. Melodica & Trombone is even more disconcerting. As an anarchic jazz-like echo slowly lingers amongst the chaotic ambient structure before being swallowed by a wave of outer space noise. Five Four Child Voice, Drums Bass Sonics & Edit or Harmonics, with more recognisable melodic forms, are equally as intriguing. Five Four Child Voice is Fridge at its nearest to a conventional band, as they venture out in the open, with identifiable elements of guitar, bass and drums. But this is short lived, and the trio rapidly retreats into more obscure territories, by way of hypnotic bass circumvolutions and abrasive percussions on Sample & Clicks. Harmonics and Long Singing offer the most melodic moments of this record, as they gently bring the listener back down to earth.
If Fridge have always deliberatley avoided simplicity, by constantly pushing the boundaries of their art form, it has never been more accomplished than here. Happiness is a truly magnificent record.