Since originally breaking onto the scene in 2003 Detroit’s Matthew Dear has seemingly been in flux. His debut album, Leave Luck to Heaven was a full on love letter to the techno that had been thumping out of the motor city a decade earlier, but since then he’s been filtering his electronic roots into what could broadly be called electro-pop. 2010’s Black City saw him become something of an avant garde pop master, the album was black as the title suggests, but it wasn’t sad or downcast, it expertly combined the late night spirit of techno with the limberness of a full band. It was very far from where he began.
This habit of change and reinvention leads one to expect each of Dear’s successive releases to stand out. Headcage keeps this tradition alive, even if it spans a brief four songs. It contrasts the tension that permeated Black City and instead looks to get comfy.
The second half of the EP, "Street Song" and "Around A Fountain" are about as laid back as one can get, flowing very easily from beginning to end and clearly an outgrowth of Dear’s love for Brian Eno. The title track harkens back a bit to his techno roots and easily could’ve been included on Black City, it’s swirling bass line and stabbing synths driving on into the night. "In the Middle (I Met You There)" is built from a hip-hop core before Dear gives it an electro makeover.
Headcage will function perfectly in between proper LP’s, the next of which is due this year. Whether it’s a sign of where he’s headed next remains to be seen. The speedy airtime (~16 minutes) may lead some to brush this aside as an afterthought, especially in the wake of Black City, but in these four songs Matthew Dear re-establishes himself as something unique. There’s a plethora of artists mining the fertile ground of techno, pop and electronica, but Dear is the only one coming up with this as the end product.
Grade: B
This habit of change and reinvention leads one to expect each of Dear’s successive releases to stand out. Headcage keeps this tradition alive, even if it spans a brief four songs. It contrasts the tension that permeated Black City and instead looks to get comfy.
The second half of the EP, "Street Song" and "Around A Fountain" are about as laid back as one can get, flowing very easily from beginning to end and clearly an outgrowth of Dear’s love for Brian Eno. The title track harkens back a bit to his techno roots and easily could’ve been included on Black City, it’s swirling bass line and stabbing synths driving on into the night. "In the Middle (I Met You There)" is built from a hip-hop core before Dear gives it an electro makeover.
Headcage will function perfectly in between proper LP’s, the next of which is due this year. Whether it’s a sign of where he’s headed next remains to be seen. The speedy airtime (~16 minutes) may lead some to brush this aside as an afterthought, especially in the wake of Black City, but in these four songs Matthew Dear re-establishes himself as something unique. There’s a plethora of artists mining the fertile ground of techno, pop and electronica, but Dear is the only one coming up with this as the end product.
Grade: B
~Steve Dobek
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