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(Groovescooter Records/Creative Vibes)
Perhaps it was getting dark, but squint as I might, all I could see were these luscious shades of orange between my fingers. Did the CD cover actually have letters, or was it some sort of optical illusion? I had to look closer to see that it was Warp and Weft by Ens.
Tropic Of Capricorn opens this enchantingly sophisticated and mature debut album; the track unfurls like the dewy petals of a flower at dawn, unhurried and glistening with fragments of light.
Although the influence of Amon Tobin is noticeable in the music, Ens’s style is in no way a clone of his hero’s. This young Brisbane-based producer, jammin’ entirely in the digital domain, draws more from the world of modern jazz. The gentle crooning of brass and horn over string and synth bass is tastefully spiced with hi-hats, brushes, and the most restrained use of samples. The samples and synth instruments often blend with a track’s vibe with such ease that their presence feels only natural.
The trumpet played by Sloth (ex-Metabass’n’Breath) is arguably the lead vocal of Warp and Weft. At the close of tracks on which it appears, there is a sense of having heard a lyric that has just faded from memory. Vocals of a more organic kind are provided by Inga Liljestrom on Perspective, whose beguiling delivery adds another level of richness to the album. On Fallen Faces Georgie Zuzak duets with Nightswimmer’s trombone to hypnotic effect.
Ens has created a work of such unity, the album is most rewarding when listened to as a whole, rather than as individual tracks. So the penultimate track Introvertuoso is like the flower coming into bloom in the sun; a denouement of a story.
And it is a story to be read time and time again. While most contemporary releases are filled with soundbite-friendly hooks, this one rewards commitment. Look closer and luscious shades of digital jazz become modulating themes woven with the finest of skill into the enveloping fabric of Warp and Weft.
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