Gilbert pulls on a range of influences and inspirations without ever allowing his style to become overly nostalgic or specific. Instead, he employs a fluency of composition that brings a real uniqueness to his sound.
Synthlines sail and soar
I’m getting old. Maybe just older. Either way, the legs are definitely stiffer than they were. Go out and get in some exercise ya lazy sod I hear ya wail, and there’s truth in that. But the fact of aging is not a bad thing. When it comes to record labels, age is generally a very good thing (as it is for us humans of course.) A label with years behind it means lessons learned, fanbase established and a roster of artists who can deliver the musical goods. 030303 turned seventeen this year and is maturing very nicely indeed as it turns to a new roster member.
Just hitting your respectable record store now is Gilbert with Shift the Focus. “Yelm” is sheer bliss. Synthlines sail and soar above rustling rhythms with a level of depth being freed from the string selection that ya might just find a tear being wiped away. Really gorgeous stuff with just a touch of early morning rave to it. Clean claps and twinkling scales give “Lucid Dream” a clarity that is uniquely absorbing. Gentle curves of acid flex beside birdsong and fluid keyboard funk. Gilbert pulls on a range of influences and inspirations without ever allowing his style to become overly nostalgic or specific. Instead, he employs a fluency of composition that brings a real uniqueness to his sound. “Shift The Focus” is emblematic of this. A radiant piece that dabbles in grand melodies of sweeping swings and rich percussive patterns, it nods to the past without becoming pigeonholed to one genre. The curtain close comes with hi-tech jazz stargazing of “Are We Alone,” an elegant and engaging end to a superb EP.
This 12” demonstrates a knowledge and talent that rarely combine. Gilbert uses the sounds of the past to steer his present style, adopting from what has come before to create something new and energizing. A record to come back to again and again because there is just so much happening amidst those subtle shifts.
Shift the Focus is available on 030303. [Bandcamp]
