Herbert and Momoko – Clay

Strut / Accidental

Renowned electronicist and collaborator Matthew Herbert has joined forces with drummer and vocalist Momoko to produce a warm and inviting collection of downtempo dancefloor-affiliated tunes that highlight the latter’s inventive approach to percussion and her sensual, soothing voice.

There is something slightly gauzey about the sound here, and something indolent about the beats and electronics that allow spaces to open up and for the voice to shimmer on through. Momoko’s voice is soft and soulful with just a hint of yearning to go with the late-night hush of the backdrops, although the subtle electronic twists that Matthew applies prevent the songs slipping into any sort of stasis.

The variation in tempos allows for different moods from the more insistent likes of effortless vocal loops on “Need To Run” and “Your Sunrise Is Someone Else’s Sunset”‘s refrain to the sub-aquatic industrial vibe of “Mowing”. In fact the line about your sunrise reflects well the mood of the album; a wistful vibe that finds songs dropping down to whisper before building up again.

Matthew’s experimental nature is always niggling in the background, ensuring the songs don’t follow the straightest path and even where they might hint at the kind of ground they cover, there is always something slightly unexpected in his judicious use of samples to draw your ear. But throughout, Momoko’s voice keeps its equanimity, helped by the liminal haze that finds the songs straddling the divide between night and day, between semi-industrial ambience and end of session close-out vibes.

“Heart” contains a pleasant surprise in Matthew’s voice which has a faltering tone, as if worried about disturbing the comedown feel of the song; but this goes well with the softness of some of the beats as if they don’t want to overstep. You feel as if there is a delicate balance here that one false move could ruin, but the next step on and the relaxed, carefree vibe of “Fallen Angel” with its “everywhere the wind blows you’ll fine me” refrain shows a more playful side.

Allied to the disorientating loops on “Show Me” that buffet the angelic voice and the surprisingly stroppy percussion on closer “Circle Shore” that seems to insist that there is more to say, even though the album is ending and you have an album of great charm and surprising variation, but utterly beguiles with Momoko’s voice.

They are taking this on the road later in the year; but for now, Clay is a lovely snapshot of a sublime collaboration with one eye on the dancefloor, but wishes to ask the listener important questions.

-Mr Olivetti-