Four Tet's progression has been a curious one. The trip hop bliss of "Hands" has given way to a more minimalistic approach on his last few releases. After the jubilant noise of 2005's Everything Ecstatic, Hebden didn't release another album under the Four Tet moniker until 2008 with the Ringer EP, which seemed like a diversionary departure into minimal house at the time. 2010's There is Love In You cemented the artistic left turn, maintaining just enough of Four Tet's freewheeling live drums to fit into his canon but with a new found sense of focus. As opposed to Hebden seemingly hurling ingredients at the wall, creating collages of simultaneously chaotic and gentle roughness, it now seemed as though Hebden had developed into a calculated marksman, capable of hitting his targets with precision.

This was reflected in his DJ mixes as well, which were once a hodgepodge collection of his wide ranging influences slamming against one another like an ugly bar brawl of jazz musicians, rappers and folk singers (my money's on the jazz musicians, they drink the most). His new full length Pink continues his adventures in all things minimal, compiling the singles he's released over the past year on his Text label along with two new tracks, "Lion" and "Peace For Earth".  "Lion" holds fast with a steady four on the floor beat and deep sub bass hits before a dark, brooding synth progression fades in like an early John Carpenter film creeping onto the set of Saturday Night Fever. "Peace For Earth" clocks in at over 11 minutes, with the first few minutes feeling like a lost Vangelis soundtrack before rhythmic arpeggios take over, allowing the slightest amount of variation to maintain interest but never allowing (or needing) a beat to materialize.

Album opener "Locked" starts off not quite unlike any other Four Tet album, with a crisp, natural drum sample. Suddenly, heavy kicks and claps overlay the beat with big womping bass hits and heavily phased guitars. These are the sort of elements that could be found populating his earlier releases, but with a patient 8 minutes and 30 seconds allowing each element proper time to breathe it stands out as modern Four Tet. "Jupiters" opens with a catchy meandering synth melody that drops out halfway in favor of tight electronic rim shots and ghetto fabulous sub bass kicks. "Pyramid" features a rare vocal sample loop that for a moment resembles old school house until the funky syncopated bass becomes more muted and modulates under layers of light synths, adding some emotional resonance to an otherwise monotonous club track.

In summation, Pink is a minimal album and it isn't. It's the kind of music you put on while you're doing your taxes, then 30 minutes go by and you realize that you've gotten nothing done because your brain has been completely occupied in some sort of hypnotic, contemplative vegetative state. It's an album that thumbs it's nose at predictability, yet still manages to embrace all of the conventions of electronic dance music without irony. Never before have machines been in such effortless collaboration with their beautifully flawed organic counterparts.