In celebration of the longest day of the year, Kieran Hebden released another album as Four Tet – in the process reminding us of his extraordinary work rate. Yet this celebration of the summer solstice, initially made available on Bandcamp, goes down a different path to previous albums, as it is made up of only two tracks. Each hovers around the 20-minute mark, meaning the music has time to settle and ultimately to grow. That is definitely the case with the ‘Morning’ side, which takes an enchanting vocal and sets it in a loop along with some hazy, drawn out pads and a continually evolving rhythm. Heard in its entirety it has a hypnotic effect. For the ‘Evening’ side Hebden starts with percussion that sounds like raindrops before adding depth, body and another plaintive vocal chant before inevitably a march-like percussion track arrives. An endlessly rewarding pair of tracks that give more with each encounter – and make a fine addition to the already formidable Four Tet discography.
5 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
