In a time when nightlife has been cancelled and everyone has been instructed to stay in their homes, new music is one of the few things which can bring excitement in these times of uncertainty. Luckily the new Four Tet release should do just that.
For over two decades now Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) has been producing and DJing some of the freshest and most exciting tracks around. With his most recent release, Sixteen Oceans, the question on a lot of lips is can he continue with his forward-thinking fresh sound? The answer is a resounding yes.
In Sixteen Oceans Four Tet continues to produce more beautiful, melodic and interesting tracks, whilst bringing a plethora of genres (including house, ambient and garage), to the table. The release is similar to New Energy as it offers a great mix of club ready bangers, spacey ambient tracks and tribal interludes, as well as field recordings – making for a really interesting listen. The record continues to bring a sense of wonder and exotic intrigue to the fold throughout its duration, something Four Tet has delivered time and time again.
The tracklisting shows the personal relationship Hebden has with his music, with song titles such as ‘1993 Band Practice,’ ‘Bubbles at Overlook 25th March 2019,’ and ‘Mama Teaches Sanskrit’ (a reference to his mother’s Indian heritage). The first half of the record, up to track ten ‘Something in the Sadness,’ is decidedly more dancefloor orientated. ‘Insect Near Piha Beach’ is the heaviest of the tracks and along with ‘Baby’ and ‘School,’ are the most club worthy tracks on the release. The final six however, delve into a dream-like realm and it is in these six tracks that Four Tet really shows his strengths in choice of instrument and sampling, something Hebden is renowned for.
Sixteen Oceans offers everything an electronic music fan would want. It’s interesting, diverse, fresh and yet still somehow, like all of Four Tet’s releases, stamped with something that is uniquely Hebden, that never gets old. MDR’s highlights of the album belong to ‘Baby,’ ‘Love Salad,’ ‘4T Recordings’ and ‘Mama Teaches Sanskrit.’
Sixteen Oceans is available to purchase now on Bandcamp – get it HERE.
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