John Foxx And The Maths – The Machine (Metamatic Records)
LP / CD /DL
22 September 2017
8 / 10
Singer, artist, photographer and teacher releases his new
album.
Often revered, John Foxx is an undisputed legend in
electronic music. With every critically
acclaimed release comes a flurry of interest and a highly deserved reception as
the man, often bordering on genius presents new and exciting collections.
The Machine performed by John and Benge is no exception,
beginning with the sound of wind or maybe the breaths of the machine, The Ghost
In The Machine is a dark and atmospheric piece.
It progresses from a soothing beginning to a gentle rumble before
leading seamlessly into The Other Mother which echoes Roy Budd’s theme for
1971s Get Carter, another translucent and calming listen.
The album was written during 2015 and 2016 as the soundtrack
to The Machine Stops, a theatre presentation of E.M. Forster’s short story which
tells of an apocalyptic vision, a planet unable to contain life with its
inhabitants living underground. Controlled
by the machine, it gives a frightening insight into the future, our present,
with communication via screen and mobile devices, a prediction of text messaging
and a culling of the eco-system. With
added tracks and mixes the album is complete.
Concentrating largely on minimal sounds for the first five
tracks, presumably as a delicate backdrop to the stage production, on Hive Frequency,
the pace is lifted with a beating bass sound and a mechanical breath insinuating
that the machine is waking from its slumber before retreating and sleeping once
more. Transworld Travelogue once more
increases the beat with an almost deafening intro and a short retreat before
steaming along once again.
As you’d expect, it’s a largely instrumental album with the
occasional vocal from Elizabeth Bernholz on Genetic Hymnal, a track with some
clinically perform field recordings and a choral persistence which makes it
very special indeed. Foxx himself sings
on Memory Oxide again, an almost monesterial feel which moves from beauty to
awe.
With Benge, who seems to have become the new second member
of Blancmange of late, completing the partnership with Foxx, The Machine is a
clean and precise piece of work many times a quite beautiful collection concluding
with the serene Orphan Waltz.
