The fourth career studio album to come from veteran producer James Holden finds the Englishman deliver a well balanced sound which pulls together hints of electronica, experimental IDM, ambient, and bass. It constantly flips the switch between dreamy psychedelia and the more quirky, percussive driven side of niche club music, all while holding a solid sense of familiarity throughout. There’s nothing particularly game changing or extensively jaw dropping about any of the individual tracks, but as
a whole it’s an excellently produced body of work from one of the UK’s all time best. The fluttering synth work on ‘In The End You’ll Know’ and the densely layered, almost elastic, percussive rhythms of ‘Contains Multitudes’ are high points, though it’s maybe the undulating synth chords combined with the heavily processed chirp-like samples on ‘Common Land’ which is the best track on the 12-piece record. The project comes via Holden’s own Border Community Recordings, where names like Extrawelt, Nathan Fake, and Luke Abbott have previously made appearances, and the same label where he released his previous three long players. Physical copies of the album will also include a 12-page comic book, which was illustrated by artist Jorge Velez.
Where to start:
Common Land: Foggy soundscape of dreamy melodies and airy percussion
In The End You’ll Know: Fluttering synth sparkles and carefully distorted drum hits
Infinite Fadeout: A visceral blend of timid percussive knocks and harmonising synth layers
Previous from James Holden:
The Inheritors LP (2013, Border Community)
The Animal Spirits LP (2017, Border Community)
If you like this then check out:
Nathan Fake – Bliizzards LP (2020, Cambria Instruments)
Max Cooper – Unspoken Words LP (2022, Mesh)
James Holden – Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities is out now on Border Community.