‘Human’ is the ambitious debut album from Max Cooper, a large yet tightly structured piece of work that marks its producer out as a name to file alongside the likes of James Holden. Cooper operates both on and off the dancefloor, so we get some really heavy rhythms through the likes of ‘Impacts’, which hammers its kick drum through the floor, and the brooding ‘Numb’, with its robust beats, alongside the beautifully floated string patterns that dominate ‘Empyrean’. The angelic vocals of Kathrin deBoer of Belleruche add a touching sweetness to the darker hues of ‘Adrift’ and ‘Numb’, while the wide range of moods is best illustrated by ‘Seething’, creating the feeling of suppressed anger to perfection. Cooper’s electronic music lives and breathes, panning out between tracks to give a wider sound picture before diving back in for his latest revelation. It is an approach that makes for strong, emotive music, whose power grows incrementally with every listen. Just make sure you hear it.
5 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
