Seefeel occupy a special place in the heart. Their timeless 1993 opus, Quique, one of those albums that completely stopped you in your tracks the first time it met the ear.
On Quique, Mark Clifford, Sarah Peacock, Daren Seymour and Justin Fletcher orchestrated something that possessed a dark undercurrent that felt more aligned to the coldness of Northern Britain than anything from down south. From the opening bar of Cinematic Phase #3 to the last note on Signals, Seefeel wove a tapestry that contained so many ideological threads, it felt like songs within songs. A unique pulse that was motorik, but in the dreamiest way possible, as bleeps and drones thrummed and vibrated all through your body.
Quique was seemingly rock music’s next logical step. Except it wasn’t, which is why no one has touched it since. Not even Seefeel themselves, simply because their mantra has always been to move forward. Their next three full-length releases, Succour (1995), (CH-VOX) (1996) and Seefeel (2011), associated more in the world of deep-listening than dream-pop, as they intersected Terry Riley worship with the same aloofness that rivalled Warp labelmates, Autechre. Seefeel were the exponents of electronica for dark, lonely rooms.
12 years after the release of Seefeel, the core line-up of Clifford and Peacock returned with the sibling EPs, Everything Squared and Squared Roots. Both releases found Seefeel playing to their greatest strength, making something that felt like the future, pushing the envelope to yet new corners in a sound world that only they inhabit.
In their ceaseless quest to never make the same album twice, Sol.Hz is Seefeel’s latest blueprint. Even in its minimalism, Clifford and Peacock manage to stealthily pivot as new elements reveal themselves with each listen.
Seefeel - Sol.Hz Volume plays a vital role throughout Sol.Hz. Opening piece, Brazen Haze, a a thick wash of synths that creates a drone designed for cerebral mind-fuckery. The instruments, almost cloaked, as Seefeel have you double-guessing what is actually the source of their sound.
It continues on Everydays and AM Flares. Both built primarily on dub tracks, resulting in the effect akin to a spacecraft whistling through orbit. Again on Ever No Way, Seefeel manage to shape that song-within-a-song elusion, combining fractured dub-inspired beats with crystalline synths that pass off as something imperceptibly hypnotic.
Elsewhere, and Humidity Switch is purely for high altitudes. You can almost feel the gravity in your own blood, as Clifford and Peacock find maximum results from minimalism. They find the sweet spot with this approach on Behind the Seen. Carrying dream-pop through the marshlands that lead to sonic purity, Peacock’s voice is mangled through an array of gadgets where each granule is boiled down to perfection.
Then there’s Falling First and Until Now. Here, the duo go the other way, dispensing something exclusive for big sound systems and outer worlds. An alien-like electronica that breaks every boundary met. And beyond those boundaries is Scrambler where Seefeel seal the deal. Skinny ambience that faintly illuminates their sound world like the aurora borealis.
It embodies the beautiful vagueness of Sol.Hz. Almost like having to stand at a certain angle to fully grasp the picture in front of you. Undoubtedly, Sol.Hz is album for a specific time and head space. But when that time comes, it interlocks with parts of the mind you didn’t know existed. It’s ecstatic deep-listening that possesses its own code. It breathes like nothing else out there. Which is fitting because there is no other act on earth like Seefeel.
Sol.Hz is out now via Warp Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.
