On his new album, There Is Love in You, Kieran Hebden (the artist otherwise known as Four Tet) incorporates electro melodies and samples into a sound very similar to the free-form yet structured vibe of jazz, making the equivalent of electronic jazz
Instead of a tenor saxophone or trumpet, Hebden's instrument is his computer. On There is Love in You, the overall effect of the looped sound bites is hypnotic and intriguing. However, it can also can be a bit much when the tracks stretch to over seven minutes.
The song "Sing" is one of the shorter, mesmerizing tracks. What's compelling about the song, and most of the album, are the array of intriguing sounds. Pings and dings and the clink of a quarter into a slot come to mind as the danceable track plays on. The overall effect of the arrangement sounds like a rave going on inside of a pinball machine.
"Love Cry," the nine-minute single released in November, has the epic scope of "Röyksopp's Night Out" by the Norwegian artist Röyksopp. Both are sprawling, ambitious tracks that test the boundaries of electronic music. Unfortunately, by minute seven more so than boundaries its the listener's patience that may be tested. It seems there are also other influences. "This Unfolds" has the ethereal-meets-childlike tone of a Manitoba release, with its soft jangle of what sounds like handbells and xylophones. "She Just Likes to Fight," the closing track, has the brooding ambience of The Album Leaf, with its downtempo mellowness and lowkey structure.
The jazz comparison doesn't entirely work, since the music is meant to be danceable at times as well as innovative. In this sense, the music fits squarely into the IDM genre. And, true to what the letters of what IDM stands for, this is most definitely intelligent dance music. Sophisticated, complex, cerebral, hypnotic — and all that jazz. (Out now on Domino Records)
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2010.