Hear: Four Tet – Three

My rating: 4 out of 5

Four Tet is one of the most creative minds in the world of electronic music. Back in my active electronic days, I even shared a stage with him once at the Nachtdigital Festival. I don’t like everything he makes, but you can never predict how the next song is going to sound. And I wouldn’t even say that he has a signature sound, but his music is always very inspiring to me.

A few weeks ago, he dropped a new 8-track album named ‘Three.’ The song ‘Loved’ opens the show, and indeed, I feel loved. Mellow trip-hop beats covered with airy and dreamy jazzy synthesizers get my head nodding.

‘Storm Crystals’ comes with a crystal-like sound that somehow irritates me. It’s just too loud and makes the mix-down edgy. But I’m pretty sure it’s intended to be exactly like that.

‘Daydream Repeat’ actually disrupts the daydream the album has built up to that point. After my head was nodding, now my foot is tapping. But ‘Skater’ immediately calms you down again. However, that’s just a short break because ’31 Bloom’ is back to four-to-the-floor beats and is a hypnotically good piece of music with subtle details, perfect for either peak time or the after-hours.

‘So Blue’ offers another break after that, while ‘Three Drums’ closes the album with mellow jazzy trip-hop beats and soft melodic pads that make you want to hit repeat.