Paul Haig:
Kube:
RoL:
Out Now:
8/10
The former Josef K founder and frontman's journey as a solo purveyor of slick sophisticated suburban pop hasn't always been easy. In fact, even with major-label intervention in the mid-'80s, Haig's glorious canon just couldn't be sold to the great British public, no matter what. Bunch of tossers.
Since the '90s, the reclusive Scot has been ploughing a furrow that has been graced with occasional critical acclaim and little radio-play, permeated by a mixture of vocal or instrumental albums released on his own Rhythm of Life imprint. The last, 2009's Relive, was perhaps his most straightforward release for some time, bordering on pop in places and offering a passing nod back to his glory days of yore.
Four years later and Haig has clearly been soaking up a few trends - on Kube, there's glitch, electronica, 'trap' (me neither) and probably something we've never heard of (yet). As well as these comparables, the man's own trademark of minimalist lyrical delivery and drop-dead gorgeous melodies - although not every track displays either - permeates this new material.
The opener UW2B is an oddball stop-start pilgrimage into his own Coincidence v Fate and Cinematique territory, a strangely moreish tune that is replicated throughout Kube. Whilst you wait for the hook-line or chorus during each track, you end up discovering a different, perhaps more likeable, motif instead. Take All Of The Time for example - there's no chorus, just an insistent perhaps cynical observation repeated over and over. 'Take the money, all of the time' punctuates a fidgety backing track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Rudimental album, while the following Cool Pig is all urbane swagger and hands-to-the-lazers synths that recall Burial on a Butlins break.
Daemon and Red Rocks are the nearest to conventional song-structure with the latter already out as a download single, while the remainder of Kube traverses James Blake, in fact most of the R&S roster plus the Johns Foxx (his recent Maths work) and Barry for good measure. It's a rather bewitching sound, truth be told. There are a few mis-firing curiosities here, merely snapshots of what could have been but, for the most part, Kube is a multi-dimensional journey into sound worth taking.
Kube:
RoL:
Out Now:
8/10
Since the '90s, the reclusive Scot has been ploughing a furrow that has been graced with occasional critical acclaim and little radio-play, permeated by a mixture of vocal or instrumental albums released on his own Rhythm of Life imprint. The last, 2009's Relive, was perhaps his most straightforward release for some time, bordering on pop in places and offering a passing nod back to his glory days of yore.
Four years later and Haig has clearly been soaking up a few trends - on Kube, there's glitch, electronica, 'trap' (me neither) and probably something we've never heard of (yet). As well as these comparables, the man's own trademark of minimalist lyrical delivery and drop-dead gorgeous melodies - although not every track displays either - permeates this new material.
The opener UW2B is an oddball stop-start pilgrimage into his own Coincidence v Fate and Cinematique territory, a strangely moreish tune that is replicated throughout Kube. Whilst you wait for the hook-line or chorus during each track, you end up discovering a different, perhaps more likeable, motif instead. Take All Of The Time for example - there's no chorus, just an insistent perhaps cynical observation repeated over and over. 'Take the money, all of the time' punctuates a fidgety backing track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Rudimental album, while the following Cool Pig is all urbane swagger and hands-to-the-lazers synths that recall Burial on a Butlins break.
Daemon and Red Rocks are the nearest to conventional song-structure with the latter already out as a download single, while the remainder of Kube traverses James Blake, in fact most of the R&S roster plus the Johns Foxx (his recent Maths work) and Barry for good measure. It's a rather bewitching sound, truth be told. There are a few mis-firing curiosities here, merely snapshots of what could have been but, for the most part, Kube is a multi-dimensional journey into sound worth taking.