Four Tet
Everything Ecstatic

Folktronica. There, I’ve said it. That’s the lazy term often used to described* Keiren Hebden’s (a.k.a Four Tet*) warped, woozy style of music, which combines lush acoustic instrumentation with clipped beats and samples. Other artists deemed ‘similar’ to Hebden, such as Coleen, Manitoba and Matmos, have also had the misfortune to be placed under this tag, but it’s Hebden who has become the genre’s leading light. With new album 'Everything Ecstatic', it seems as if Hebden has decided to escape the term by leaving his guitar behind, and instead surround himself with xylophones, gongs, cymbals to create a lush, if uneasy, landscape. An eastern influence appears to have had an effect as well, with tribal drumming and wind chimes prevelant throughout the ten tracks.

Lead single ‘Smile Around The Face’ encapsulates this approach in every one of its 270 seconds. With a metronomic introduction, the track begins bleeds out of the speakers, high pitched vocal snippets backed by a Can influenced loop. It’s as if Kanye West’s chipmunks were drenched in absinthe, strapped to a carousel, and then recorded for all and sundry to hear. It’s also quite stunning, and one of Hebden’s best songs to date. ‘Sun Drums and Soil_’ combines tribal drumming, blurred keyboards and wind chimes before introducing Bitches Brew horns.