That LP successfully combined features of shoegaze, ambient and electronica in what was essentially a guitar band. Some of their records around the time of Quique, especially a series of EPs and re-mixes, took the group into dub and more purely ambient, and in each case the direction was definitely interesting, even if at times lacking the adventurous range of that seminal first album with its highly original mélange of sounds.
Later records incorporated sonic aspects that had been developed by leader Mark Clifford’s solo projects under his Disjecta name, while the band members, in particular singer Sarah Peacock, gained much from joining up with Mark van Hoen from Locust.
Now, over thirty years since the original release of Quique, comes a mini-album that recalls the dynamism and originality of that record, without ever descending into a tribute to it. It succeeds in working with the finest elements from that time, adding aspects of the more industrial yet still allowing Peacock’s vocals to carry rather than drive the material. In other words, this latest delightful enigmatic compound of sonics demonstrates that the wondrous Seefeel alchemy has not been lost.
Opener “Sky Hooks” has Peacock’s glossolalia-style vocals
serenely floating over the bass and an assortment of effects that bring
to mind the finest work of Burial; sounds fading and re-emerging in a
manner that holds one’s concentrated attention. Following track,
“Multifolds”, broadens the soundscape with delicately-varying short
sequences, and here Peacock’s changing register is perfectly timed,
resisting any temptation to produce Elizabeth Fraser-style swoops and
ascents. The whole album conveys the notion that Seefeel have
re-familiarised themselves with what made Quique so pioneering,
yet refuse to indulge in it, such that “Lose the Minus”, at just two
minutes, is a precisely-considered evocation of the past, yet has new
combinations of those ingredients to stress forward movement rather than
mere retrospection.
The skittering introduction of “Antiskeptic” expands into
shards of synths enveloped in ringing echoes that initially compete with
an emphatic bassline, but then take flight on their own before a very
well-timed gentle descent. Again, one senses that Seefeel have thought
through those particular features that were so convincing a generation
ago, yet at the same time recognised that now the suggestion can be as
effective as the overt statement when it is incorporated into a
disciplined structure.
This point becomes especially evident in “Hooked Paw”,
where slight deviations in the background effects initially compel
attention until the rhythmic change in the foreground re-focuses
concentration, and then the change of pace towards the end brings about
an awareness of the ingenuity of the compositional technique.
Everything Squared succeeds both on its own terms
and as a reminder of how original the band was from the outset. Looking
forwards and backward with equal acuity, it is a fine achievement.
