A soundtrack to lift the heaviest of heads from narcotic slumber.
Morning-after electro from a pair of London-based sorts with previous form in underground outfits, the debut album from Walls is the kind of woozy fare designed to soundtrack the haziest of dawns, to lift the heaviest of heads from narcotic slumber. It’s a collection – brief at less than 30 minutes in length – that shifts from fuzzy drones to gentle beats and synths as spied through gauze of stripped circuit boards and old CPUs. But such is its lightness of touch that the listener may struggle to remember any aspect of it once the curtain’s fallen.
What the record lacks in substance it makes up for in beauty – at no point does this eponymous set fail to have the heart at least faintly fluttering, as processed guitar passages dance around percussive elements that recall the slower-of-tempo moments of Nathan Fake and fellow Border Community artist Fairmont, as well as Ghostly International’s Matthew Dear and Apparat, aka Sascha Ring. The latter artist’s last solo album, of 2007, was titled Walls – if this release is named as a tribute, then the stylistic similarities certainly support the gesture. But while Apparat – last seen as half of Moderat – mixes introspection with dancefloor-minded material, Walls concentrate exclusively on the comedown. As such, they engage only when the situation suits; they complement a certain state of being rather than instigating actions through their own.
Lees de rest van deze review op BBC CD recensies (Engels)
Bron: BBC Music