CLOSE - Getting Closer

It had been quite a while since the man behind Simple Records (Ian Pooley and Motocitysoul have released records here) had put out new material, taking a short break from his work as a label boss. English by birth (Glastonbury), producer, disc jockey and talent scout, he's left behind several 12-inches with partner-in-crime Tam Cooper across 2007/2009 and a decent solo album, “Space Between” from 2005, a stew of dub, techno and broken-beat. Very little has been heard of him since, and although his productions, despite being of decent if not excellent quality, have generated little buzz, so this comeback has attracted scant interest on the music market.

The Close project first and foremost involves a collaboration with vocalist Charlene Soraia (her “Moonchild” from 2011 was lovely), reggae musician Tikiman and Fink (an artist on the Ninja Tune roster), thus including vocal tracks alongside the surrounding instrumentals. The album, titled “Getting Closer”, offers a classic, seductive and effective electro hybrid, able to absorb various genre tendencies. While the vocal-led episodes always sit in perfect harmony between trip-hop, synth-pop and house, the rest of the tracks see techno, downtempo and broken-beat animate inspired pieces, featuring lovely sounds that are never earth-shattering but consistently above an enviable quality average.

What makes “Getting Closer” such a fine record, however, is above all a quality that's far from a given in this genre: the ability to slot things into place, to patchwork, to weave such disparate stimuli into a fluid, cohesive whole. Will Saul proves himself here a first-class old fox: with a polished, elegant touch, he avoids overdoing things, cheap effects and messy jumbles, knowing exactly when to change gears while maintaining a clear overall vision throughout.

So “Getting Closer” can be thought of as a thoroughly enjoyable, homogeneous tapestry that makes room for the dream-synth-pop of “I Died 1000 Times”, the splendid future-dub of “Born In A Rolling Barrel”, the downtempo hints of “Cubizm” (one might think of the recent Bonobo), the daring “Time Fades”, a successful blend of house music and certain experiments à-la Burnt Friedman, right through to the stylish house-pop of “Beam Me Up”.

"Getting Closer" is one of those records that somehow manage to quietly earn a special place in the listener's heart: it never steals the scene entirely, but it never fades into the background either, flowing smoothly and raising its tone at just the right moments.

To date, Will Saul's finest work.

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08/12/2013