National Ignition hits all the right spots and feels like his best work yet—taking classical sensibility and striking a happy balance with beat laden electronics is no easy task but it’s really made to work here.
[Release page] Christopher Leary (aka Ochre) has been honing his production and mastering skills for over a decade releasing albums on UK labels Toytronic and Benbecula with a sound infusing analogue synths and acoustic instruments, a keen sense of classic emotive melody and sharp expansive production techniques.
I must admit I’m a great fan of Ochre’s work so it’s with anticipation that I fire up his sixth album National Ignition and become pretty much sold on the entire thing from first track “Blue Hours.” It’s got everything—the heart string tugging melodic progression, hazy glimmering synths, clever slightly glitched beats and a lush mastering sheen to die for.
“Awaiting the Green Morning” follows in sublime pastoral form—marrying acoustic guitar shimmer to some properly nifty sound design around electronics operating in a very similar space to Plaid’s Scintilli release from 2011. Spiky playful melodics, shifting structures and spiraling arpeggios thread throughout the excellent “Jack In” and “Leaving Arcadia.” It’s clear hours have been spent on the sound design here. There are all sorts of cheeky abstract manipulations going on—effortlessly combined into each track, adding to the whole rather than resulting in the distracting glitch fest it could so easily become.
For an Ochre fan National Ignition hits all the right spots and feels like his best work yet—taking classical sensibility and striking a happy balance with beat laden electronics is no easy task but it’s really made to work here. An absolute must for fans of Plaid, Autechre and all things in that cerebral melodic electronic vein—a highly recommended release alongside a cracking back catalogue to dive into if you’ve not done so already.
National Ignition is available via Bandcamp. [Release page]
