- In his 13 years in the production game, Donnacha Costello has gone through a variety of sounds. But the one thing that has always remained constant is his devotion to melody. Ambient, minimal, coloured or conceptual: it hasn't made much of a difference. Costello can't help himself. For his debut release on his new imprint, Look Long, the Irish producer continues the trend with some of his most hook-laden work yet.
Costello is no pop producer, of course. The hooks here are minor-key and contemplative: "Waltz for Chet" pines with the best of them, while "Always a Why" leaves its plaintive synthesizer melody behind in its final minute for plucking synthesized guitars. "Closing Circles" even recalls the marimba minimalism of Steve Reich. The 20th century giant looms large over the proceedings here—much of the work on The Only Way to Win Is Not to Play the Game owes a heavy debt to the sound created by Reich and guitarist Pat Metheny on "Electric Counterpoint" (a track used recently to great effect on The Grandfather Paradox).
While perhaps not as immediately powerful as his final bow for Minimise, It Simply Is, The Only Way digs its hooks deeper. Free of the "semantic strangehold" of Minimse and more than a decade into his career, it sounds as if Costello might go anywhere from here. Just don't expect it to be lacking in melody.
Tracklist A Waltz for Chet
B1 Always a Why
B2 Closing Circles