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The five-year wait for a new album by Manchester-based Andy Stott is finally over. As a key figure in Britain’s experimental electronic music scene, his output has continually pushed boundaries and shaped the genre over the last twenty years. Having released exclusively on Modern Love up to this point, it comes as no surprise that his latest offering, Late Loop, arrives via the Boomkat-affiliated imprint. What is surprising, however, is the sound of this new record.
Throughout his career, Stott has meticulously carved out a signature sound defined by a heavy, reverb-soaked, and delay-laden mix of UK techno, dubstep, grime, experimental music, and ambient, all anchored by powerful basslines. On Late Loop, you will hardly find any of these elements. Instead, he surprises listeners with eight late-night jams, warm lullabies, and raw, gritty soft-pop.
All tracks feature stunning vocal work by Stott’s long-time collaborator Alison Skidmore and, for the first time, Elaine Howley, who made her Modern Love debut just last year. Their vocals are accompanied by beats that stand out for their striking simplicity. Lush yet raw, industrial-leaning rhythms reminiscent of AFX or Autechre kick things off on (true to its name) Cold Welcome, where Alison Skidmore’s delicate voice steers the track into a song format and takes a peaceful, divergent direction. Elaine Howley’s first appearance follows on Something in the Mind, an almost fragile, synth-pop-leaning heartbreaker.
Sunday Fast—another melancholic, break-up-coded song—follows before 2024-2, the most experimental and frankly most “classic” Andy Stott-esque track on the record, arrives, once again graced by Alison Skidmore’s beautiful vocals. Particularly on 2024-2, her partially echoed, whispered delivery adds an eerie, spooky twist to the robotic slow jam. A lengthy intro of accordion-reminiscent chords sets the mood on The Hardest Thing, before ultra-slow lo-fi drums and Elaine Howley’s voice round it out.
Mirror Signal follows as another synth-pop-leaning piece, conjuring imagery of an outro scene straight out of a Twin Peaks episode by David Lynch. Songbird, a truly magnificent and somewhat dramatic composition, features super-slow, hard Polygon Window-esque drums, lush keys, and—once again—Howley’s voice emerging from behind the curtain. Late Loop concludes with the title track, a mesmerizing dialogue built around Skidmore’s delayed vocals.
Many Andy Stott fans will undoubtedly be surprised by Late Loop, but it is hard to imagine anyone being disappointed. To this reviewer, the album feels like a sweeter evolution of his personal favorite, Violence—his distinct penchant for melancholic expression remains entirely intact, but it is now imbued with a newfound, tender lightness. Huge recommendation!
