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Fineshrine - Purity Ring - Shrines (2012, 4AD)

“Get a little closer, let it fold / cut open my sternum, and pull / my little ribs around you…”

As anyone who’s tried to make one work will tell you, most long distance relationships result in a drawn out failure. But try telling that to Canadian duo Purity Ring. The pair are separated by more than 1,000km, so instead of a typical “get together in a room and jam it out” album construction, they had to take a slightly different route with their debut LP Shrines. First, Corrin Roddick would craft the dark, synth laden, bass-infused beats over in Montreal. Then he’d send these instrumentals over to Megan James in Halifax, who added her vocals: a sweet soprano, balanced out by dark, emotive lyrics. Finally, the track would get bounced back to Montreal, where Roddick would give things a final touch up. Indeed, the two only worked on the album in the same room just before finishing it, merely adding a couple of final touches.

This way of working isn’t exactly new. Indeed, in the hip hop world, it’s the way many producers make tracks for rappers. But it’s not so common with a band like Purity Ring. And what’s most remarkable here is how well it works. There’s no way you could tell Shrines was composed across half a country simply by listening to it— Roddick’s beats and James’s poetic soprano blend seamlessly and cohesively. As James told Rolling Stone, “I think it works really well for us. We have very different goals in writing a song and it allows us to be isolated in those goals.”

It’s hard to pick a standout track from Shrines, as it’s all very consistent. But if forced, one would have to be Fineshrine. Roddick’s shuffling, UK bass style beats, and staccato, syncopated synth harmonies support and intertwine perfectly with James’s pure voice and darkly emotive lyrics, which manage to be poetic without descending into obscurity. Shrines is one of the most individual, compelling and charismatic albums to come out this year, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not check it out.

Kieran Welch

(Source: airportmusic1)

Her Fantasy - Matthew Dear - Beams (2012, Ghostly International)

Matthew Dear may have spent the first few years of his recording life releasing rather serious techno under his Audion alias, but with his last two albums he’s been steadily reacquainting himself with the world of pop music. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking Carly Rae Jepsen here, Dear’s take on pop is dark, sultry, and still clearly influenced by underground electronic music. His most recent album, 2010’s Black City, exemplified this, and as such was a favourite of many that year.

However, if this newly released lead single is anything to go by, he looks set to top that success with his upcoming LP Beams, due out on his own label Ghostly International late this August. Her Fantasy adds a distinctly summery, tropical air to his trademark dark and sultry sound; it’s a enrapturing musical journey, and once you finally surface from it six minutes later, you’re going to want to dive straight back in. Best of all, it’s available for free over at Insound. Also, make sure you check out the perfectly suited music video for the track below.

Angels - The xx - Coexist (2012, Young Turks)

The xx have been hard at work over the last few months on their hotly anticipated second album Coexist, which is due out September 10. Angels is the first full track to surface from the work, and shows that the band have lost none of their signature open, hushed sound. There are subtle changes however; things have definitely tightened up around the edges, and there’s an unsettled snare-kick beat that tries to get started a few times throughout the track, which could well stem from the deep house influence that the band talked about the album having.

Cerulean - Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns (2012, Witchita)

Simian Mobile Disco began with after-party DJ sets that James Ford and Jas Shaw put on after gigs with their woefully short-lived band Simian. But while that band sadly broke up, the duo kept up with Simian Mobile Disco, and their debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release was one of the defining records of the 2007 electro resurgence. Although it had flaws, the album was a monument to the pair’s top-notch production skills, and their ability to balance a passion for techno with a healthy dash of pop sensibility (and, as it was 2007, a raw electro edge). However, their second LP, Temporary Pleasure, went too far into the pop realm. Then their third LP, the concept album Delicacies, went even further in the opposite direction, full of unadulterated bleepy techno that even long-term fans found it hard to connect to.

Despite it technically being their fourth album, Unpatterns feels like their proper sophomore. It’s the fantastic follow-up to their debut that everyone knew they were more than capable of. The pop is still there— lead single Seraphim is a deep house-leaning gem with just as much radio-friendly charm as one of the biggest hits from Temporary Pleasure, Cruel Intentions. And the techno is definitely still there, as is especially clear towards the latter half of the album, but now it’s balanced out by a welcome deep house influence. The two sides are finally perfectly balanced again, and in a way that is even more cohesive and compelling than on their debut. Unpatterns was a long time coming, but now that it’s here it turns out to be more than worth the wait. I advise you to pick this one up as soon as it comes out tomorrow.

Honey - Kwes - Meantime (2012, Warp)

Warp has long served as the home of experimental electronic music, and from the first track of Kwes’ second EP Meantime, it would seem he fits right in; the combination of warm, swirling synths and sampled field recordings makes Klee sound quite comparable to Boards of Canada. But this is where the similarity ends. As Klee flows smoothly into Bashful, Kwes drops a shuffling drum beat, starts singing, and before you know it you’re listening to some of the most unashamedly pop music that Warp has released to date. Kwes has spent the last few years producing for the likes of Speech Debelle and The xx, but it turns out he’s just as talented as a singer and songwriter— the latter three songs on Meantime may be oddly pop-leaning considering the label, but they are affable, catchy, and fantastically quirky. (Taken from a review I did for Rave Magazine)

Kwes describes this particular track, Honey, in a recent interview with Pitchfork’s Ryan Dombal: “Honey was inspired by Brian Wilson’s “Vegetables”— using food as a vehicle for love and relationships. On the song, I’m actually singing as a head of cabbage— I can’t move, can’t do anything— but I can see around me. I’m on the counter and I have a view to a half-open cupboard, where there’s a half-full jar of glowing honey. It’s the love of my life.”

Kill For Love - Chromatics - Kill For Love (2012, Italians Do It Better)

“Everybody’s got a secret to hide / Everyone is slipping backwards”

Chromatics first burst into the public consciousness with their 2007 LP Night Drive, a beautifully cohesive concept album that gave italo disco-infused synth pop a distinctly minimalist edge (the success of which was cemented by its use in Nicholas Winding Refn’s film Drive).

Kill For Love takes that musical formula and puts it on a grander scale, in the form of a 90-minute work that spreads across two discs. Undeniably catchy synth pop rubs shoulders with minimal techno, all underpinned by grungy 90s guitars and evanescent vocals. And although the canvas is larger, somehow the band’s stylistic hallmarks are more refined and cogent than ever.

You can check out the album’s title track up above, or alternatively dive into a complete stream of the album, courtesy of Chromatics front man Johnny Jewel.

Circumambient - Grimes - Visions (2012, 4AD)

Over the past couple of years, quirky Canadian musician Grimes has built up a sizeable underground following for her ethereal synth-pop. But Visions, her third LP and first major release, is verging on breaking through to the mainstream. More polished than anything she has created before, the album is soaked with pulsing synth lines and booming kick drums. With less reverb, Visiting Statue could pass for a new Kylie Minogue track. And with a little more swag, Circumambient would be approaching modern R&B, a la The Weeknd. Indeed, in many ways Visions is aching to crossover. But it won’t quite make it— for want of a better word, it’s just a bit too weird. And it’s the reasons why that make it so special.

There’s a shadowy ambience that bubbles under the poppier aspects of her music, definitely assisted by frequent, deliciously unexpected harmonic developments. And then there are her vocals— they’re nearly always at the front of the soundscape, but few lines are decipherable. Most are layered, reverbed and pitch-shifted to the point of lyrical obscurity, resulting instead in a focus on the floating wisps of melody. Grimes also demonstrates an ability to use open space in her music to great effect, as apparent on the album’s less beat-driven latter half; although at times this use of space can end up being disengaging.

In a couple of years someone will probably repackage what Grimes is doing now and hit it big, but for now she is just a bit too ahead of her time to be mainstream. And that’s why this album is worth your time. (A review of Visions I wrote for Rave)

Seraphim - Simian Mobile Disco - Seraphim (2012, Witchita)

The british electronic duo Simian Mobile Disco have just premiered a new track on Annie Mac’s BBC1 show. Seraphim drops on the 9th of April, and is the lead single to the duo’s fourth LP Unpatterns, which is due out in May on Witchita.

Seraphim dials down the tempo as compared to the unadulterated bleepy techno of their last LP Delicacies, and ends up sounding a lot closer to one of the group’s earlier hits Cruel Intentions, a collaboration with The Gossip’s Beth Ditto that featured on their 2009 album Temporary Pleasure.

The press release for the new album describes it as being “full of love, dedication, hard-earned experience, obvious understanding of decades of electronic music from across scenes and styles, and huge fun. It’s completely of the now, showing a band as familiar with Blawan and Lone as they are with Silver Apples and Phuture, but never jumping on bandwagons.”

I have to admit I’m more than a little excited. If the rest of the album is anything like this single, it should really be something special.