Already one of the most respected musicians around,
with a string of credible musical guises under his belt,
Scott Herren has been nothing short of prolific over
the last few years. Although he’d already gained
considerable recognition with his Delarosa & Asora
and Savath & Savalas projects, the abstract hip-hop
of Prefuse 73 not only propelled him amongst the biggest
names on the scene, but saw legions of new fans joining
the ranks of his early followers. It is therefore no
surprise that his latest effort, Surrounded By Silence,
was leaked on Soulseek weeks ahead of its official street
date. Yet, this album is a powerful illustration of
why Herren reacted angrily to his work being pillaged
in such fashion, even evoking for a moment the possibility
of not releasing the album at all. Looking at the impressive
list of collaborators present on this record, including
the likes of Ghostface, Tyondai Braxton, Aesop Rock,
EL-P, Beans or GZA to name but a handful, it becomes
obvious that Surrounded By Silence is the manifestation
of Scott Herren harvesting the well-earned fruit of
his hard work and giving his music the exposure it deserves.
When Vocal
Studies & Uprock Narratives was released
back in 2001 following a couple of EPs, Scott Herren
was still a rising star. His arrival on Warp, after
his beautifully pastoral Savath & Savalas album
Folk Songs For Trees & Honey had been licensed
from Chicago-based label Hefty Records, was just the
next logical step in the career of this outrageously
talented musician, yet, he was set to surprise his fans.
Leaving behind him the delicate soft-spoken ambiences
of Savath & Savalas or the eclectic electronica
of Delarosa & Asora, Vocal
Studies & Uprock Narratives presented a
series of far more tormented soundscapes heavily influenced
by hip-hop, Herren using a far wider sonic palette as
well as systematic cut’n’paste technique
to produce a sophisticated blend of crisp electronic
sounds, chopped up vocals and razor-sharp beats that
instantly appealed to hip-hop and electronica fans alike
without compromising the least on his overall sound.
Two years on, One
Word Extinguisher, and its companion, Extinguished:
Outtakes, saw Herren incorporating more traditional
hip-hop elements into his highly intricate sound while
taking the experimentations of its predecessor a step
further. One
Word Extinguisher also witnessed a series of
high profile collaborations with the likes of Daedelus,
Dabrye, Mr Lif and Diverse, establishing Herren as an
extremely creative hip-hop producer and pre-empting
the way he would go with Surrounded By Silence.
After a stint as Savath & Savalas, last year, that
give him the chance to go back to his Spanish roots
– he lived and recorded in Barcelona for a few
months - Herren now serves up a demented and furiously
addictive slice of Prefused hip-hop with this new album.
Described by Herren as ‘the radio station of my
mind’, this album features a staggering list of
collaborators, cherry-picked amongst the crème
of modern progressive hip-hop, and ends up sounding
more like your best compilation ever than the manifestation
of just one simple mortal’s creative mind.
Having met the various contributors present here over
the last couple of years while touring and recording,
Herren set out to utilise them against their natural
abilities, associating people who wouldn’t usually
be performing together or placing them in an unfamiliar
context to create a sense of urgency and danger, giving
this album incredible density and fluidity.
Delivering a perfectly polished and adjusted soundtrack,
Herren doesn’t just sit in the background. His
presence is felt on every note, behind every sound,
over every beat, omnipresent shadow carrying the vocal
performances, constantly pushing each contributor into
new corners. Generous in the way he crafts his tracks,
Scott Herren provides for the vocalists and places them
in the limelight, yet he is undoubtedly the one in control,
keeping focused on the end goal as people revolve around
him. Each track is given a unique sheen and a particular
context through vocal interventions or soundscapes.
There is very little in common between the in-your-face
attitude of Hideyaface, the jazzy touch of
Expressing Views Is Obviously Illegal, the
offbeat rustic hippie-hop of Pagina Dos, the
incidental abstraction of Gratis or the subtle
surrealism of Sabbatical With Options, yet
these tracks are intricately linked to each other, simple
components of a wider picture, and appear totally relevant
against each other.
Surrounded By Silence is perhaps equally Prefuse
73’s most and least accessible record to date.
The focus appears to change constantly, making it difficult
to grasp its full impact all at once. Yet this album
is also his most organic and fluid. Building on the
complexity of Vocal
Studies and the wide sonic scope of One
Word Extinguisher, Surrounded By Silence
sees Herren almost entirely reinventing himself and
create one of the most truly intoxicating records heard
in a long time. Fuck Soulseek. Go buy this!
5/5 |
