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Machines In Heaven - Phenomenology

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Machines In Heaven are cool, hip, electronic, and probably that band your “cool” friend talks about so much, that you don’t want to like them just to spite that particular friend. But then, you listen to Machines In Heaven, and after questioning why such seemingly sporadic combinations of sounds work so well together, you accept that this Glaswegian trio are actually something pretty darn special.

Self-described on Facebook as “electronic power-ambient” and “post-bass”, those labels may give the new listener with some markers from which to set their music GPS. That band’s debut album bordersbreakdown does seem to fall into those categories on some level, and as a whole works on an ambient interplay of electronics and “conventional instruments” like some kind of Microsoft post-rock. The new record – Phenomenology – also follows this template, but with a greater percentage dedicated to the electronic side of things.

’Silfra’ is a charming introduction to proceedings as it twists and turns, giving a short five-minute summary of the album overall like some musical prologue or blurb. ‘Quango’ however saunters along at a defined pace, with a repeated guitar line injecting some funk throughout as layers of electronics ebb and flow around it. By contrast, ‘Ruix Con’ is somewhat reflective as electronic loops join aperiodic and minimal vocals to create a mystical and alluring atmosphere. Turning yet another corner, ‘Logarithm’ (sadly not ‘Logarhythms’) sounds like the background music to the Mario Kart level you always wanted to play as oscillates jauntily at an infectious pace.

This diversity in song composition is part of what makes Machines In Heaven an enjoyable outfit, as their records provide a musical smorgasbord of differing flavours that can awaken you to some subtle yet interesting influences you never knew you needed to love. ’G-wave’ for example strays into material not a far distance for the likes of 65daysofstatic (a band they could be compared to more generally), whilst ‘20XX’ signals to the more soulful numbers in CHVRCHES’ back catalogue, and ‘Dr. Whit’ quickly escalates rapidly from gentle strings to an electronic flurry (more 65daysofstatic).

The vocal tracks used on closer ‘Ragman Dolls’ make it a little unsettling, but do not compromise it being as enjoy as Phenomenology as a whole. That word as a word appears to have many interesting meanings and applications, which you can lose yourself reading about for some time on the ever-reliable Wikipedia, if you so desire. As an album it is a complex and hard to define thing, clearly inspired by a range of styles, and contained a plethora of musical ideas. Combined with a pleasing album artwork, Machines In Heaven have produced another exquisite record, and you and all of your friends should love them.

Phenomenology is available from Amazon and iTunes.

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