Editing Shadows

By: Sei A
Label: Missive
Written by: BenGomori
Rating: 9/10


Glaswegian producer Andy Graham (occasionally known as Droido) first broke into the dance music game producing with the mighty Milton Jackson some years ago – but his latest guise as Sei A looks set to garner him worldwide acclaim. This debut album, Editing Shadows, is a seriously impressive piece of work.
 
Smile For Me kicks things off in a sexy and seductive fashion, all bouncing wooden percussion and skippy beats, gently reverbered bass and mischievous synth hooks, with the garbled, moaning, groaning vocal giving a bit of charm to the proceedings and evoking memories of Burial’s haunting technique. Soul Alarm continues the trend, a spookier, breathy vocal gliding like honey over a silk codpiece while a twinkling synth arpeggio hints at a darker, more twisted side to his sound.
 
My World is a low-slung, dubby tech houser in the Swayzak vein – slightly kooky riffs simmering away under the spaced-out vocals, while Blink ushers us back to dancefloor territory with its bubbling bass and big swathes of techy synth – the track progressing subtly and satisfyingly, with gently euphoric melodies joining the sprightly groove later on. Think Funk D’Void battling it out with his alter ego François Dubois.
 
Tracks like Master Of One show his impressive knack for songwriting that defies convention as acts like Hot Chip do, while Ether with Sara Pickin shows that he’s equally adept at crafting tracks around other people’s vocals. The latter is a stunning track, Pickin’s sumptuous, fragile vocals weaving in dual tandem around Sei jittering beats and warm harp and pad combos – coming off like a vintage slice of Royksöpp, rising to powerful heights with its pulsating trance chord crescendo.
 
This Is takes us in a different direction, rasping synth blasts and tom-tom hits combining with shuffling rhythm to create a captivating groove of alien textures, and again on Say Or Do he crafts something completely unique – first sounding like an old Solid Groove jam, but soon descending into a sonic chaos that encompasses digital glitchery, weird-out vocals, harrowing electro bass and a random orchestral sample. It’s Like and Hacking The Network yield tougher, darker-tinged techno, and album closer State Of Us is a graceful slice of orchestral deep house, flecked with ambient textures and a floaty feel.
 
This is a serious benchmark for anyone wishing to create an album of (largely 4/4) music that’s clever enough to warrant extended home listening, but powerful enough to work in a club. We’re dealing with a serious talent here – one to watch in 2009.