4T Thieves – Raven’s Cottage

Rednetic

The eleven tracks spread across the latest release from 4T Thieves apparently owe something to Boards Of Canada; but having never listened to that act, I can only say that the woozy soundscapes and lethargic trip hop beats captured here have a real effect on the listener, their odd textures and slipperiness bringing to mind the sort of lonely, sweeping, slow motion vistas of Bowery Electric.

The beats on Raven’s Cottage are subtle and tricky, slightly wrongfooting the listener with their relative gentleness; but they are not straightforward. There are some tracks where the beats are not uniform and you find yourself listening intently for the glitchy flicker or extra fill that makes them stand out. Everything feels at a remove, as if recorded through gauze or some sort of kaleidoscope. Other points are so gravity-defying that you could be floating through some distant part of the galaxy, satellites revolving their way past you as light moves in waves, ebbing and flowing.

While the formula is similar through the album, it is the fine details that set the tracks apart. The repetitive sway of the electronics on “The Hole In The Ground” feels as though you are sat watching a strong wind blow through a stand of palm trees, while the scuffed and glitchy “Ghosts” brings to mind laying on your back in a dark field watching the stars gradually make their way to prominence, with the beats enfolding you and keeping you warm.

“Open Windows” is an effortless train journey through a blurred landscape, while the echoing footsteps and shuffle of feet on “Eye Of The Storm” holds a fierce melancholy that is hard to counter. As a collection, the pieces on Raven’s Cottage work really well; at points unsettling, but at others rather warming and repeated listening finds more to discover.

-Mr Olivetti-