Four Tet - Morning/Evening

Four Tet
Morning/Evening
2015

It might at first seem a little bit odd that I am reviewing an album that only has two tracks on it, but it becomes a bit clearer when you find out that each track is 20 minutes long. Four Tet has never been one to follow convention moving throughout the electronic music scene with ease and a grace that few others posses, but this album contains a special very artistic feel that He has not captured on a record as of yet. The liveness is quite palpable and clearly intended, this is the type of album that probably was never supposed to be recorded or released through mainstream means but somehow it was and we are better for it. "Morning Side" begins with a pulsing high hat that is ever present even as Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar is looped in as strings swell around her. It is more of an orchestral production to begin than anything else, but that eventually gives way to a more classic electronic beat steps in complete with deep bass drums and pounding synths only to be brought back again. "Morning Side" is bright and has a clear vision just like the time of day it is attempting to encapsulate.

"Evening Side" however is a bit more understated. There is a bit less emoting and connection through voice and more raw emotion. This track which one would expect to be dark and brooding instead twinkles and shines like the night sky. It isn't about light and dark it is about the moments just between the two those fleeting seconds when day becomes night and night gives way to day. "Evening Side" is punctuated with crisp synth tones and an almost complete lack of drums until the track is almost three quarters of the way done. Then the song becomes a bit of a dance track and a celebration, the wind that allowed the track to float along is swept away as everything comes together to build a massive wall of sound. This album is an artistic endeavor to paint with sounds these two very abstract ideas of Morning and Evening. Morning/Evening is something truly special, and a record to hold near and dear despite its daunting track length. Take a risk and find out what Morning/Evening may have in store for you.

8.7 out of 10