SIGN

Album review

It’s always hard to predict where Autechre will go next with their music. After years of releasing music and playing concerts (35 of them since their last quintuple album elseq 1-5 in 2016, not to mention the four NTS Sessions livestream volumes released in 2018), the British duo has finally decided to release a “normal” album. Eleven tracks taken from 750 hours of jams and recordings which were made, as often is the case these days, from a distance. Familiar to conference calls well before lockdown, Sean Booth and Rob Brown moved onto a new level of composition some years ago, using exclusively their own production software to generate sounds in an algorithmic manner. They no longer send each other audio files like all other IT-centred musicians, but units of code which create synth and machine-like sounds. This allows them to simultaneously break away from the electronic music norms which they have challenged since the 90s. Interestingly, the duo have realised that they come up with likeminded ideas even at a distance. This gives the record some dizzying moments like the addictive au14 and some more contemplative ones like the electronic sunset that is Metaz form8. An album that consistently surprises in a way that only Autechre can. © Smaêl Bouaici/Qobuz