ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Plaid Polymer

Warp Records

IDM experimentalists and dancefloor distorters Plaid return with their typically upfront and uncompromising new record. Out on Warp Records (which is a diverse, playful, intense record with a bold, confident sound and message. The environment, pollution, synthetics and mortality are among the album’s themes and for a record so locked onto the current socio-political climate, is at times dark, chaotic and intense. Granular synths, grinding bass, ominous techno breaks, propulsive beats, crunching lines, reverberating sub-bass and cold machine sounds conjure up a sinister, uneasy feel. Yet, the album also has plenty of lighter, more melodic moments, with floating melodies, tingling synths, warm pads, flickering drums and glowing hues offering a more positive and blissful outlook on the future. The album’s 13 diverse tracks move effortlessly from energetic to dark and brooding, bright and positive, and onto the hypnotic and otherworldly with unflinching ease. Plaid find warmth and humanity in the places where people have stopped looking for it. This time they even manage to find it in polymers. As relevant and timeless now as they were more than two decades ago, Plaid continue to push the envelope for expansive electronic music.