PORTICO QUARTET - Living Fields

Portico are no longer a quartet, but that's the least of it. "Living Fields" is a fresh start entirely independent of the established nu-jazz project, whose remaining members are Duncan Bellamy, Milo Fitzpatrick and Jack Wyllie. There's not even much surprise in this, given that the "electronic turn" is a recurring hallmark of our times, and that in this specific case the transition had already been looming with the trio's uncertain, self-titled previous album.

This is no longer the age of crossover, and so the English trio makes its entrance into an ecosystem defined by lesser autonomy, one where the featuring credits deployed also serve as a calling card. And the voices involved here are hardly marginal: chiefly Joe Newman, the unmistakable vocalist of Alt-J, and Jono McCleery, a rising star of London's soul singer-songwriter scene; then, tucked in at the end, a cameo from Jamie Woon, another well-regarded figure of the new electro-soul. Three guarantees in terms of talent and appeal, yet here they're put in service of an aseptic digital framework that, without prior knowledge, one might mistake for a remix job of the kind heard everywhere these days – and across every genre.
Portico's framing work is in itself scarcely melodic, and the juxtaposition with bland, merely present songwriting feels like a desperate attempt to lend a soul (soul, precisely) to an inflexible, anti-emotional material, creating a contrast that some might appreciate while others shy away from in favour of a more balanced compromise, such as that struck by James Blake or by Jamie Woon himself as a solo artist.

If the intent was a crossover proposition capable of winning over a broad indie audience, "Living Fields" could turn out to be a flop, lacking both a well-defined song form and a sound that adds anything to the overflowing output of the electronic scene. It's the fruit of a decidedly bland artistic vision, resting on the unfounded certainty that, in today's climate, given the right basic ingredients, it's hard to miss the mark. Unfortunately, instead, this re-debut seems suited only to providing innocuous background music for an alternative club's after-hours.

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23/04/2015