We were intrigued to see how Gui Boratto would apply his crisp, taut, dreamy production style to veteran British electronica outfit Bomb The Bass’ sound. The results are wonderful, with his punchy beats and slick percussion replaced in favour of more live sounding beats and samples, while his ethereal atmospherics and lush synth work lives on.
The Infinites is a dreamy haze of a track, Paul Conboy’s vocals swirling around your head while Gui’s distorted guitar sounds pulse in the background. On Blindspot he plums for moody vocals, matched to the bouncing off-beat electro-disco of the backing track, with haunting violins creeping into the mix as the track progresses. Price On Your Head with Richard Davis sees their sound step into deep trance atmospheric, all hypnotic, while Happy To Be Cold sees the album move in a deeper direction still – all shimmering, gentle and warm. Likewise Up The Mountain with The Battle Of The Land & The Sea’s hushed feminine vocals makes for a delicious slice of deep, rolling tech house. Kelley Pollar’s gentle vocal harmonies are beautifully woven together on Start, just one of many examples of the wonderful production aesthetic on this album.
It’s rewarding to hear what Gui can achieve when working with other musicians, and likewise how Bomb The Bass have managed to successfully update their sound. The tracks are full of life, progression, detail and dynamism, evolving throughout their lifespan and never sticking to one motif. Many of the tracks have the spirit of mid-90s trance - or dreamhouse if you want to be archaic – running through them, and the style works wonderfully with the emotive vocals therein. We’ll be listening to this one all year we reckon – a wonderful meeting of minds.
[PREVIEW & BUY THIS ALBUM BELOW]