For a man who has spent most of his career either in
the shadow of bands such as Seefeel, Scala, or in more
recent years, Mojave 3, in a producing role, or behind
Locust, a project he has been leading for over ten years,
Mark Van Hoen remains an emblematic figure of the electronic
scene. With an instantly recognisable sound, combining
heavy electronics with guitars and pop sensibilities,
Van Hoen has helped shape part of the electronic scene
of today.
Born in London in 1966, Mark Van Hoen grew up in Birmingham,
before returning to the capital at the tail end of the
eighties. Although he names influences ranging from
Steve Reich to Brian Eno and John Coltrane, Van Hoen’s
first foray onto the music scene was as one third of
Autocreation, a dance floor-orientated outfit with whom
he released an album, Mettle, in 1994 on Belgian
label R&S before leaving to concentrate on his solo
projects. On that same year, he released a collaboration
with Seefeel bassist, Darren Seymour, and his first
album as Locust, Weathered Well. Combining
elements of techno and ambient into dark electronic
songs, Van Hoen began to developed his truly unique
form of pop music. Weathered Well was followed
by Natural Composite, which collected Mark’s
1994 Peel Session together with the Needle
and In Remembrance Of Times Past EPs. Over
the next few years, Van Hoen has juggled between his
own releases and his production work for Seefeel and,
later Scala and Mojave 3.
Almost three years after the last Locust album, Wrong,
Mark Van Hoen returns with his second album under his
name. If, over the years, the Locust sound has grown
to include occasional vocals, The Warmth Inside
You returns to entirely instrumental compositions
and focuses entirely on Van Hoen’s analogue electronics
and heart-warming melodies. The production is, expectedly,
spotless; yet this album appears in some ways less polished
than its predecessors. Emphasising largely on old-style
analogue sounds, Mark Van Hoen gives this album a retro
feel, evoking seventies film music far more than contemporary
abstraction. Yet, The Warmth Inside You is
more insidious and dark than it first appears. Under
its faux air of nonchalant stroll through warm sonic
landscapes, Van Hoen crafts some disturbing ambiences
around dub-flavoured percussions, heavy bass lines and
slow-paced ambient moments, contaminating melodies with
rampant melancholy. Nothing here appears as it really
is. Van Hoen hints at impressions, suggests emotions,
and yet doesn’t at any point impose anything.
The Warmth Inside You is a work of great subtlety
and the manifestation of an apparently limitless talent.
For this latest effort, Mark Van Hoen seemingly returns
to his early sound, presenting here a piece of work
that is at once evocative and dreamy, retro and modern,
innocent and perverted. With The Warmth Inside You,
he reasserts his position on the music scene and appears
more confident than ever.
4.1/5 |
