Review Summary: Chemical Brothers and Underworld disowned their baby bro.
‘Drone Logic’ defies dullness by embracing the funky essence of deep/acid house. It is retro rave music propelled by resounding deep beats, faint, relentlessly skittering drums, and the infrequent inclusion of voice samples to drive the melody.
Repetition is a standout feature in Avery’s music. Simple rhythms are introduced until they are instinctively familiar; then with pristine timing a new sequence surfaces smoothly usurping the previous one. The subtle shift in dynamics, and the revival of grooves revealed earlier in the track, leads to a maelstrom of riff heavy layers which are simply enrapturing! Consequently, exposure to 58 minutes of electronic music DOES NOT become a tedious, ear numbing experience.
‘Drone Logic’ caters for the big stage. ‘Water Jump’ for instance incorporates a looped, candied voice; it hypnotically beckons rivalling the appeal of a mythological Siren. A rippling sonic sound akin to frothing liquid is interspersed with a flat robotic tenor announcing “Water Jump” – a clear invitation to dive into the core of the mix. Despite stretching for 8 minutes, ‘Water Jump’ never comes close to faltering.
Eponymous track ‘Drone Logic’ is crisp and majestic. Once again, a female voice is sparsely employed to inject an exclusive intimacy: “Noise flies high/ no one there to see it”. The lyrics (whilst repeated) are compressed and separated by swathes of space. This allows the carefully cultivated ethereal atmosphere to be the focal point.
‘Free Floating’ is a truly immersive piece. It operates on a strict 2 frequency beat whilst a drone, resembling insidious exhaling, lurks in the background. The garbled ‘squelchy’ fuzz so often remarked by avid listeners of 1980s Detroit Acid Movement, infiltrates ‘Free Floating’.
Drone Logic is intense, without being overtly loud, or thrusting. Calm and laidback (last 3 tracks in particular) it expects a devoted audience without demanding one.
