Four Tet - There Is Love In You

Kieran Hebden has been describing his fifth album as Four Tet as his first “dance record”, following several years of him getting into DJing, first via a residency in Room 2 at The End in London at Timo Maas’ 99%, then at Shoreditch’s Plastic People. Nobody was quite sure what to expect, although no-one was expecting him to abandon his ideals and musical identity in favour of functional dancefloor mechanics. The result, it turns out, is a wonderful blend of his past and present.
 
Angel Echoes does what it says on the tin for starters – cut-up soulful, yearning female vocals soaring over a warm, subtly uplifting backing, and it’s accompanied perfectly by current single Love Cry. More subtle still, it focuses around dusty, soft drum breaks and hazy tones – warbling electronics fluttering and hovering across the 4/4 beats, and more percussive rhythms gradually drawn in. The vocal hook fits into the pared-back melodics wonderfully, and the result is something that’s a curious blend of organic sound, electronic technique and toe-tapping sensibility. Dance music, but not as it’s commonly recognised.
 
That theme continues with magical Sing, with a touch of Stimming in its melancholic character and shuffling wooden percussion. The bleepy main riff and bassline are simple but dramatic, and some gamelan-style sounds buried deep in the mix add a touch of spookiness (as do the eerie vocal snippets that haunt the track at various points – think Aphex Twin meets Burial). Plastic People is dedicated to his now-terminated residency at the East London party den, and as such kicks along with stomping intent and tense chimes.
 
His fluffy “folktronica” sound is still intact – Circling bringing plucked guitar loops and chimes, while This Unfolds is as it suggests, evolving from a downtempo haze into a plodding 4/4 workout, decorated with twinkling early-‘70s synth sounds and shimmering percussion, before subtly moving back to its half-time beat. Reversing provides a dreamy interlude, various sounds intertwining and melting into each other – but you’re never really aware of any one particular element. She Just Likes To Fight rounds off with dreamy, delayed guitar, tumbling percussion which sounds like it’s all happening by accident but somehow fits, and warm, sunny bass. It’s music for a blissful sunrise in a gorgeous, unspoilt location. A clichéd suggestion, but have a listen and you’ll see for yourself.
 
Four Tet pulls off that envious trick of paying enormous attention to detail while making the whole thing sound natural and organic. Nothing is contrived or laboured – it all just fits somehow. Although it’s sequenced with a computer, he leaves things a little rough around the edges, unpolished and raw and not super-tight and over-processed. Whether he’s displaying his melancholic or uplifting side, it’s a joy to listen to. It’s a perfect winter warmer that yields more with repeated listening, and the “dance” element of its manifests itself a bit like the afrobeat he so loves – with a more natural sense of rhythm and movement than pure electronic workouts. If this is him hitting the ‘floor, we don’t ever want him to stop moving.