- If you thought Martyn sounded too comfortable on his most recent album, The Air Between Words, you could have a hard time with Falling For You. The cross-genre inventiveness of the Washington, D.C. producer's most notable material has become commonplace, and he seems to have settled into a mindset of making club tracks that favor restraint. But where that last LP lacked in vigor and creativity, this three-tracker for Ostgut Ton uses stylistic familiarity like a trusty, well-sharpened blade.
A-side "Falling For You" actually finds Martyn adding a wrinkle to his repertoire—that is, weaving dulcet lounge piano into a bass-loaded groove. The juxtaposition is almost jarring at first, but there's an elegance fostered by the soft-focus glow wrapped around ravey synths and swinging drums. For an artist like Martyn, it simultaneously sounds mature and fresh, dependable and unexpected. It's more business as usual on the B-side, though the tracks are still among the best we've heard since Ghost People. "U1-U8" is a straightforward roller, with a mesmerizing set of chords you could trace back to Great Lengths. "Ahmadiya" carries that history, too, both in its shuffled beat and downcast melodic hues, and Martyn teases a wide range of rhythmic possibilities from the milieu. It's true that comfort can mean complacency for some, but Falling For You reminds us it can also mean doing one thing exceedingly well.
TracklistA1 Falling For You
B1 U1-U8
B2 Ahmadiya