Back in 1996, Putney, South London, was the scene of
the birth of post-rock experimentalists Fridge,
brainchild of Kieran Hebden, Adem Ilham and Sam Jeffers.
With a distinctive blend of guitars and electronic,
the band established themselves very quickly on the
music scene, receiving critical acclaim for their three
albums and numerous EPs. However, Kieran Hebden started
releasing his own material from 1997, under the Four
Tet guise. After a string of 12” and a first album,
Dialogue, released in 1999, at the tender age
of 21, he is back with his second album, Pause.
After touring with Fridge,
as Badly Drawn Boy’s live support band, remixing people
as diverse as Aphex Twin, The Cinematic Orchestra or
the µ-ziq/Speedy
J Slag Boom
Van Loon project, Hebden escaped the British weather
for a while. Spotted in Toronto exchanging ideas with
Manitoba’s Dan Snaith,
he quietly put the finishing touch to Pause,
before joining his mates to record the forthcoming Fridge
album, Happiness, due to be released on Hebden’s
own Text Records imprint. Obviously drawing experience
from his work with Fridge,
Hebden offers with Pause a somehow very different
side of his inspiration. Guitars are here simple particles
in a much bigger picture, only providing a sound base
for his genuinely cooling melodies. All along, the album
reminds of Manitoba’s
slick ambiences. However, Pause is more constrained
than Start Breaking My Heart. There aren’t
any excursions into wild sonic soundscapes here, as
Hebden remains in more conventional surroundings than
his Canadian counterpart. This doesn’t mean however
that Pause is an album to ignore as he creates
some gentle, melodic, atmospheres, with astonishing
ease. The guitar-breeze over Glue Of The World,
Everything Is Alright or You Could Ruin
My Day cools down the burning bites of the sun.
If not a revolutionary record, Pause is clever
enough to grab the attention of the listener and not
let go. Four Tet is more than a side project for Kieran
Hebden, as he continues to explore the realms of electronic
music.
4/5 |
