Seefeel – Everything Squared

Warp

The first new music from Seefeel since 2010’s self-titled LP is a really welcome return and although now down to a duo of Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock with assistance from bassist Shigeru Ishihara (AKA DJ Scotch Egg, also of WaqWaq Kingdom) on a couple of tracks, it sounds as though they have never been away.

Originally described as the first guitar band to be signed to Warp, actually referring to Seefeel as a guitar band does them a huge disservice as they are simply an experimental beat-driven electronic act which also uses guitar as part of its arsenal.

This latest release is more of a mini-album at six tracks and twenty-six minutes, but the quality and otherworldly sense of remove is still in place; the way they play with voice and sound to evince an unknown place and time sets them apart from any particular style. The slurping slicks that pass for beats and Sarah’s distant smeared voice introduce opener “Skyhooks”. It is a strong opening statement and moves oddly, sparkling in remote places. It is like the sounds have been stretched and then folded back in on themselves, making them familiar yet alien.

Isihara’s bass on “Multifolds” is almost hidden in the background, while the atmosphere sparkles and crackles around it. There is a familiarity here; but it all happens with a sense of remove, as if a layer of gauze is placed over the ears. Guitars are a little more prominent on the short but sweet “Lose The Minus”, layered and effected to become just another part of the distant texture, replete with the lost sounds of space.

How they manage to bury some sounds in a distorted haze while others chime across the surface is a complete mystery. Mark’s willingness to pluck sounds from wherever — the beats on “Antiskeptic” sound like somebody shovelling snow while a resonant bass drum bursts into life — and twist them into something that suits his specific purposes never grows old. The beats are often insistent, but sometimes at odds with the other elements, as if your hearing has gone awry slightly and some sounds are arriving earlier then others. The overall effect is of being transported somewhere where the normal rules no longer apply.

I remember the visceral thrill of seeing Seefeel in 1995, the industrial electronica of Succour bursting to life on the stage of the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, so it is great to feel a similar sensation having familiarised myself with this new material. Like all good things, it takes a while to bed in; but when it does, it suddenly makes perfect sense.

Seefeel still inhabit their own universe where electronica, industrial, ambient and dub coalesce and I still think nobody else sounds like them. On the strength of this new material, there is plenty more life left and it will be interesting to see how it fares on the road. I can only hope there is more to come.

-Mr Olivetti-