Staff Reviews

Martyn - The Air Between Words

Review by Alex Baker

Tracks like ‘Glassbeadgames’, “Two Leads and a Computer’ and ‘Forgiveness Step 2’ will be played again and again, particularly as the festival season gets into full flow, and will garner him much deserved praise, however you can’t help but feel the title of the album itself will exist as a mere footnote to their success.»

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Three years after his last album - 'Ghost People' - Martyn joins the Ninja Tune family to present his third long player. Universally respected for his ever-evolving, but inimitable sound, the Dutch-born, Washington DC-based producer brings an entirely new sonic direction with 'The Air Between Words'. This is an exploration of the essence of all of Martyn's music: a rugged four-to-the-floor groove, intelligently sculpted and artfully composed. For this album Martyn fell into a back-to-basics mentality where simple experimentation with purely analogue sounds and equipment inadvertently turned to melodic sketches, and without warning the album revealed itself. Stylistically and sonically, Martyn stands apart from his counterparts. His music incorporates vintage references but is steadfastly forward-facing at the same time. He's always done that. His sound is heritage and future - and that character has elevated him alongside fellow electronic heavyweights such as Four Tet, Kode9, dBridge and Mark Pritchard.
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