Bracken

Peering from the undergrowth with some dead ferns stuck to his hat, Chris Adams
(of Hood fame) is the latest artist to inhabit the Anticon heath-lands - going
by the name Bracken and producing some astonishingly ethereal music that doesn't
confuse technical know-how with emotional heart. It's got both... Flecked with a
cascading set of keys that is at once energetic and startlingly poignant,
'Heathens' is a master class in layered songwriting - with the top spin of
shoegaze vocals and fluffy production tethered to the present by cut-up horns,
shrugging dub and coiled beats galore. Experimental whilst grounded in a firm
understanding of pop sensibilities, Bracken recalls the more charming aspects of
Prefuse 73's catalogue - integrating angular techniques with supine melodies and
free-wheeling atmospherics for an invigorating sound. Claiming a couple of
Anticon scalps for remix duty, 'Heathens' is then given a re-spin by Alias and
Why? - here cast as a far more positive excursion, with the Casio beats sparring
adroitly with Adams' honey melodies. On the back, 'We Cut The Tapes And Scatter'
is a brimming hotchpotch of ideas and sounds, all of which seem perfectly
natural and unreasonably coherent despite comprising of thudding beats, metallic
bird cheeps, strings, guitars and floating vocals. Closing on the may-fly burst
of 'Out', Bracken has put together a sterling EP which more than deserves its
place amongst the Anticon top-table and hints at stunning things to come from
the Hood man. Bracken beacon! Look for the full length Jan 27th, 2007.