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Rating:
It is a common rule that the second album, especially if following a stunning debut, is very difficult for the artist both emotionally and musically. There is always the risk of rehashing the same ideas, perhaps with different twists, or veering towards other directions, leaving fans bewildered. More than seven years have passed since "The Idiots Are Winning" in 2006, a long period to let James Holden's popularity settle and to release an album "The Inheritors" that has little to envy of the debut, suspended between minimal-techno and indie-electronics. The 34-year-old Briton is a genius now mature, a sensational figure in the dance world (his selections "At The Controls" and "Dj-Kicks" are remarkable), he is one of the few who can afford to do whatever the hell he wants. And he does it brilliantly. "The Inheritors" disguises itself with dirty and raw electronics, develops laborious martial rhythms ("Rannoch Dawn", "The Caterpillar's Intervention"), returns to the kraut and spatial beginnings of Cluster and Kraftwerk ("Renata", "The Illuminations", "Seven Stars", "The Inheritors", "Circle Of Fifth", "Some Respite"). To garnish and illuminate the 15 pieces are the jazzy trumpets of "The Caterpillar's Intervention", the crescendos of keyboards in "Delabole", the spacey interludes of "Inter-City 125", the "noisemaking" of old '70s PCs of "Gone Feral" and the wonderful organs for Martian funeral ceremonies of "Sky Burial".
A grand and essential album even for those who aren't well-versed in electronics, for those looking for some form of alienation/estrangement in music, for all those seeking a certain "extra-guitar" psychedelia, for those who love the electro-krautay stream.
Must listen.
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