INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES
The Guardian MAY 2, 2014 - by Lanre Bakare
ENO/HYDE: SOMEDAY WORLD - AN ALLURING BUT SKETCHY SOUNDCLASH
As you'd expect from a collaboration between a man known for his explorations in ambience (Brian Eno) and another who made his bones playing live techno (Underworld's Karl Hyde), there are jarring moments on Someday World. Opening track The Satellites transforms from a slow-building guitar line into a cheap and chippy wall of keyboard sounds, which are then cloaked in Karl Hyde's signature drone. There is a strange allure in the soundclash, with all the contrasting elements coming together to form an intriguing blend of poppy yet spikey electronica. But settling on one sound isn't where the pair's ambition lies. They run through a gamut of styles, which cast them variously as an '80s synthpop duo (Daddy's Car), an Unkle-style trip-pop outfit (Mother Of A Dog) and a discordant avant garde sci-fi troupe (When I Built This World). When they stray from the brighter, poppier adventures, things do go off track. At times the dreaded accusation of self-indulgence feels appropriate, and some of the songs here feel like sketches that still need fleshing out.
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