6 tracks, you say? A 6-track album? Pah, that’s not an album, I hear you say. Well in this case, it kind of is – being that 5 out of the 6 tracks are 8 or more minutes long, and make for a cohesive and fantastically original body of work from the Icelandic oddbods.
The tracks unfold in the most wonderfully unhurried way – giving you a sense that they really are living, breathing, evolving creatures, rather than some static, quantized, synthesized meeting between man and machine. Thin Ice sees yearning, urgent male vocals set across a tense undercurrent of jabbing synths, like Booka Shade stripping themselves down and going on a psychedelic trip. Hateful plods along with moody bass throbs, gradually morphing into a hectic bleep riff – but never losing that sub-aquatic feel that permeates most of this album.
On The Job follows on with cool, low-slung electronic funk and vocals that mix The Rapture and The Rolling Stones sassiness potently. Fizzing, sharp electro synths leap out of the muddy swathes of bass, all the more colourful for their slowed tempo. Snippets of vocal harmonies waft in and out of the mix. The track swells and then lessens, constantly keeping you guessing as to what’s coming next.
Take Me Baby finds Finland’s Jimi Tenor sounding like a sleazy, druggy, deranged Iggy Pop, thanks to a combination of his dramatic delivery and subtle voice-warping effects, while a more peppy stop-start synth chug recalls Depeche Mode at their most brooding, or any of German’s electro-tech producers who have been influenced by them. Bremen Cowboy is an exercise in teasing acid, waves of 303s relentlessly bubbling through the minimal beats until a full buzz is unleashed, with another manic synth riff cleverly weaved in and then removed via a big delay. Finally the epic Add This Song starts life as a soaring, triumphant centrepiece, morphing into a freeform electronic funk jam with more twists, turns and undulations than a Formula 1 track.
It’s electronic dance music, but not really for the dancefloor – more like what you’d expect a jazz composer to create within a 4/4 structure and with the help of loads of synths. Innovative, pristine, beautiful, organic and raw all at once – this is a must.
[LISTEN TO AND BUY THIS ALBUM USING THE PLAYER BELOW]