I’m feeling a great climb of ambiance on kick-start track ‘Vertical’ with a high altitude balloon filled with downbeat electronica. The thing I like most about instrumental groups is the progression in the musicianship and these lot definitely add a spice of atmosphere as I’m feeling their vibe early on in this record. ‘Elliptic’ is incendiary from the word go, dark waves of catalytic noise rises with an outro of electronic drum rolls magnifying at every beat. There’s definitely an element of Glasgow’s Errors in this Leeds quintet and that is a weight worth holding.
‘As You Are’ features guest vocals from Isolde who more than complements this amazing sound. Vocally she reminds me of Beth Gibbons of Portishead, carrying a prominent tone throughout the constant layers of synth filled magic. ‘Attica’ is my favourite track so far. I thought the climb on the first track was good, it doesn’t have a touch on this. Zongamin springs to mind and maybe even Young Team era Mogwai, though it’s hard to compare anyone to their unique dance filled aura like on ‘On Monos’ which features voice power from Snow Fox.
The experimentation in this group has more than catapulted out of my speakers with that amazing vocal, bursting in at every given point carried across a mountain of electrified gold. ‘Glass Lake’ has a feel much akin to Orbital and I can imagine this going down a storm in a Glastonbury dance tent back in 1994. There’s a suspense on this track that takes it away from the rest of the album which you’ll hear during the last minute, and will more than ignite. Dilate loses with ‘On Your Own Ten Toes’ which will push you to heights of periodical pleasure and send you rushing for water due to racing and almost collapsing from dehydration. This album is epic.
[Rating:4]
Dilate was released on 2nd March 2015 on Bias.
