Albums
Beautiful simplicity lies at the heart of this emotional album of retro electronica from The Field’s Axel Wilner. ‘And Never Ending Nights’ is the frozen counterpoint to 2011’s ‘Looping State Of Mind’, The Field’s danciest album yet. Analogue synths are used to emotionally devastating effect. A droney thrum underpins opener ‘Little You, You Should Develop’, over which a complex Eno-esque melody is traced.
It segues into the ambitious ‘Broken Bow’, a trippy 10-minute trek to a distant Tibetan temple where monks worship Moogs and Kraftwerk. Elsewhere, ‘Neukölln’ paints with the bold, warm colours of early Boards Of Canada. Best of all is the 11-minute ‘Cries’. With the merest hint of percussion and beats for support, Wilner takes a one-note synth pulse and then threads subtle, repetitive laser-guided synth melodies in and out. It’ll floor you like a Mike Tyson haymaker.
4/5
File under Icy retro synthery
Download ‘Broken Bow’, ‘Cries’, ‘Neukölln’
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