MUSIC | Previews 74 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018 74 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018
ELECTRONICA FOUR TET Barrowlands, Glasgow, Fri 16 Feb
Having now been in the game for 20 years, Kieran Hebden (known more commonly by his moniker Four Tet) is arguably one of the finest electronic musicians and club DJs around. His collaborations with everyone from Steve Reid to Burial have garnered him vast amounts of attention, but in his genre-defying solo material, he reveals a multitude of influences that all play a distinct role in creating melodies, rhythms and beats that are sonically rich and highly evocative. Hebden’s latest release, New Energy, his ninth album and first
since 2015, harks back to various motifs from past records, uniting these with his current more dance-centric sounds. There’s the sweeping instrumentation and blissed-out melodies complemented by elements of Indian classical music and jazz as on ‘Two Thousand and Seventeen’. But then this coalesces seamlessly with more typically garage / house grooves on tracks like the up-tempo ‘SW9 9SL’.
New Energy’s warmth points to its overall characteristic
of intimacy, which is backed by the lack of overt fanfare that surrounded its release. Instead, Hebden chose to donate the first 1000 vinyl and CD copies to Oxfam to sell. As he recently explained on the Stance Podcast, where he appeared as a guest: ‘the idea came from my mum: she works in an Oxfam branch . . . and she asked for some copies, so we can sell them there. It’s a charity that’s been around my whole life and I’ve always associated them with music because most Oxfam shops sell records. I can’t believe I’d never thought of it before.’
As part of his upcoming tour, Hebden will be heading to Barrowlands for a special headline show, which will see him playing ‘in the round’, directly in the middle of the dancefloor. It’s a rare chance for fans to see the DJ in this non-traditional set-up and one that will no doubt augment his trademark club experimentations. (Arusa Qureshi)
R&B JORJA SMITH The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Tue 6 Feb
Over the past few years, there’s been a steady emergence of new talent coming out of the British R&B scene, with the likes of Ray BLK and Mabel finding success in the mainstream arena. Walsall- born singer Jorja Smith has played a relatively significant role in this new wave of formidable female vocalists, emerging early in 2016 with her Dizzee Rascal-sampling debut ‘Blue Lights’, which was inspired by the prevalence of police oppression, brutality and black stereotyping. The 20-year-old singer has since proven herself to be a gifted and captivating force within the genre, despite having not yet released her debut album. The past 12 months have been a bit of a whirlwind for Smith, with guest appearances on Drake’s More Life, a North American tour with Bruno Mars and, just recently, the announcement of her Brits 2018 Critics’ Choice award win. Her 2017 Preditah-produced single ‘On My Mind’ shows that she has the versatility to move between soulful ballads and club-ready garage anthems with ease. But it’s the combination of her sultry, jazz-infused vocals and her self-assured and thought-provoking lyrics that have resulted in people finally stopping to pay attention.
Her latest track ‘Let Me Down’, which features a guest verse from grime’s golden boy Stormzy, is currently doing the rounds with its melancholy piano riff and soaring vocal melodies. To say that Smith has a strong future ahead of her would be an understatement, but as we await her highly anticipated debut, we can only begin to imagine where she’ll be headed next. (Arusa Qureshi)
ART ROCK FRANZ FERDINAND O2 Academy, Glasgow, Sat 17 Feb
It came as no surprise to Franz Ferdinand when guitarist Nick McCarthy said he wanted to leave the band. His departure was announced in the spring of 2016, once their collaborative FFS project with Sparks was complete, and the challenge was to find a replacement member.
The remaining three members knew of electronic producer Julian ‘Miaoux Miaoux’ Corrie's
work, as his album School of Velocity was up against FFS at 2016’s Scottish Album of the Year Awards, while the further recommendation of Corrie's label Chemikal Underground was also taken on board. ‘We met up with Julian, went for a curry at Mother India’s Café, had a few drinks and a chat,’
recalls Alex Kapranos. ‘Then we went down to my place [in Dumfriesshire] and headed to the pub, because you’ve got to hang out together and make sure you get on well, don’t you? Eventually we played some music and the vibe was great. He’s a diverse and rich musical personality, and we could see that would work within our unified sound.’
The result is this month’s Always Ascending, a record which fuses the arch New Wave sound we expect from Franz with Corrie’s added techno influence. ‘Our ambitions are still quite essential,’ says Kapranos of Franz 2.0. ‘We want to make music which is exciting and surprising, and gives you that indescribable feeling when you hear a good record.’ (David Pollock) ■ Always Ascending is released by Domino on Fri 9 Feb. See review, page 76.