How's this for a blank slate? This is the fourth album for New Zealand electronic artist Signer, but it's difficult to dig up any information on him. Nine times out of ten, Google will assume you've spelled "Singer" wrong. His MySpace page has all of 4,100 views; his Facebook, 54 fans. The press release states that Signer, a.k.a. Bevan Smith, was inspired by "the sonic possibilities of synths, the sophistication of modern pop and the sci-fi otherworldliness of Techno." In the four promotional photos on the label's website, Smith is playing a keyboard in one and gardening in the other three. Sample song titles: "Nord all black keys," "Languidly toot," "Don't be a forest cow," etc.
I haven't brought this up to criticize the artist. It's just that the music here seems equally as out-of-nowhere. As the press release suggests, Next We Bring You The Fire is informed in equal measure by pop, rock, and electronica, but it defies easy classification. It's simultaneously cacophonous and soothingly low-energy. It's often self-consciously experimental, maintaining the same recurrent synth line or incessant drone for a minute or more, but it's deeply concerned with pop aesthetics. It's both ambient music that sticks in your head and dance music better suited to headphones than wall-sized speakers.
This isn't a typical exercise in artificial, disjointed genre fusion, though. While most rock/electronica hybrids sound as if the two genres have been mashed together with no concern for synergy, this album feels fundamentally organic. Propelled by a deeply syncretic groove, the songs here are exercises in subtlety and minimalism; think Panda Bear's Person Pitch with less folk and Brian Wilson, and more atmospherics and techno. I think Smith and Noah Lennox had the same goal in mind with their records, which was to build a new sound from the sounds of the music they knew and loved, regardless of genre. Granted, they approach this goal from opposite directions, with Lennox moving from psych-pop toward electronica, and Smith from his experience as a rave DJ in the 90s toward psychedelic and pop.
This isn't a perfect album, though. Smith often lingers too long on vaguely atmospheric introductions and codas. The first song is the least enjoyable part of the record, which is fairly unforgivable and a terrible idea business-wise. Then he saves the best for second-to-last with "Don't be a forest cow," which is one of the few times that Smith really cuts loose, making the rest of the album seem somnolescent by comparison. Still, there's a compelling intensity to all the music here.
Oh, and do the guy a favor; be his Facebook friend.
1. Nord all black keys
2. +kicks and kicks
3. Break my arms around you
4. Languidly toot
5. The glass ceiling
6. We should touch teeth
7. Don’t be a forest cow
8. Unprotected walls
More about: Signer
