- An odd air permeates Francis Harris and Anthony Collins' collaborations. The more time they spend in the studio together, the more melancholy their music becomes, with little of the low-slung style that characterises their solo work. Instead you get something that seems to make little effort to grasp the listener, but rather unfurls in a thickly woven tapestry of muted chords and barely-there drums.
Take "What You Believe," so pillowy that its organ licks seem to have drifted in from another studio and neither Harris nor Collins could summon the energy to shoo them away. But there's enough thump in the kicks and the strident hi-hats that, come the sixth minute, you're mesmerised into a heads-down sway. By comparison, "Still Life"'s bongo-racked opening seems almost punchy, but the pads draped over them like cobwebs soon steer things in a murkier direction. It feels like the soundtrack to hitting a wall in the club then finding a second wind. This is dance music that soothes the soul while gently nudging the body into motion.
TracklistA1 What You Believe
B1 Still Life