It wasn't long after he released his first 12-inch on James Holden's fledgling Border Community imprint in 2003 that Norfolk's Nathan Fake was tagged progressive techno's poster boy. His age (a disarming 22), preeminent fondness for gauzy synths, and continued close affiliation with Border Community-- now sort of the Green Party of techno labels-- have reinforced that caricature, but its been his gradual shift away from the sturdy rhythms of early tracks like "Outhouse" in favor of the facemelting sounds of "Dynamo" and "The Sky Was Pink" that have cemented the image.
Drowning in a Sea of Love marks Fake's long-awaited debut LP, and sees him complete the transformation from 4/4-friendly house producer into the prog prince of nu-IDM. Where his singles once comprised long, rolling stretches of gravel road rhythms, there's barely a beat to be found here, and what few there are bump less like thunderstorms than metronomes, existing as cursory structures rather than focal points.
It's a drastic change, but it's not necessarily for the worse. Texturally, Drowning recalls both M83 and Morr Music's cutesy cadre of melody-happy synthpoppers, but where the former often feels too rich for consumption and the latter too relentlessly sweet, this strikes a perfect note somewhere in between. It's one of the lightest, easiest records I've heard in a long time, a low-calorie pleasure that makes up for what it lacks in gut-level punch by never seeming to diminish in returns.
"Superpositions", "You Are Here", and "Long Story" are all shoegazer-inspired tracks that begin as embers and finish as forest fires, and "Bawsey" is a beautiful, decaying, minor-key piece that might as well have been swiped right out of Boards Of Canada's textbook, but it's the swoonsome "Charlie's House" that stands as the album's highlight. Beginning with a crisp rhythm track and a glowing, circular arpeggio, it takes on a haunting, dusky quality about a minute in, when Fake introduces his favorite sound: the same yawning, mournful synth that made the original incarnation of "The Sky Was Pink" (which gets a workmanlike remix elsewhere on the record) such a revelation.
Holden's remix of "The Sky Was Pink" was one of my favorite techno tracks of last year, if not ever, and his shadow looms large over this record as well. I might just be projecting what I know of the back story onto the material, but despite having formally moved away from house music, it still often feels like Fake is setting the table for-- or at least overtly tempting-- the remix. Maybe that's why early reviews of this have been just as likely to lump it in with house as with IDM, because there's a certain spirit to what Fake does that can't be erased simply because the backbone has been. Regardless, he's got such a beautiful, producer-ly touch that we should be happy with whatever record he wants to make, so long as he's making them.
