Next to that one scene in Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise’s character morphs into a delivery pizza and says, “you reheat… me” to Renee Zellweger, nothing warms my heart more than seeing electronic pioneers like Autechre and Plaid continue to release music while maintaining a relationship with the label that helped get them started literal decades ago.
Like Autechre, Plaid have remained more or less true to the original sound that they respectively propagated in the mid-1990s — and in all that respect, they’re like musical anchors that compel mental stability amid what might otherwise be CHAOS in one’s personal life. I mean, a former high school jock might now be exploring metallurgy in the warehouse of a distant philosopher cousin, until putting on the newest Plaid single triggers nostalgic memories where he or she threw that game-winning pass…uh, well okay, maybe not…
Polymer is the name of Plaid’s super important 10th(!) album for Warp, and connections abound when you actually consider the molecular connotations behind that title. Andy Turner and Ed Handley thought that the “repetitious strength” and “endurance” of polymers allowed for a good theme; while at the same time, I’ve already alluded to how easily those adjectives apply to the influential duo from London. Synthetic polymers also attest to the computer-based production that Plaid have clearly perfected.
Pre-order Polymer ahead of its June 7 release, here, and check out the track “Maru” down below, which combines that trademark organic sound with a surprising in-your-faceness:
Polymer tracklisting:
01. Meds Fade
02. Los
03. Maru
04. Ops
05. Drowned Sea
06. The Pale Moth
07. Dancers
08. Nurula
09. Recall
10. All To Get Her
11. Dust
12. Crown Shy
13. Praze
More about: Plaid
