''New Energy'' is the ninth studio album by British electronic musician Kieran Hebden, released under his alias Four Tet on 29 September 2017 by Text Records. The album follows a more uptempo, listener-friendly style than previous Four Tet records while containing elements of those albums and a variety of musical styles as well as virtual instrument replications of culturally-tinged instruments. The album garnered critical acclaim, landing on several year-end lists by publications such as '' PopMatters'', '' Q'', ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'', '' The Guardian'', and '' Pitchfork'', and reached number 48 on the UK Albums Chart.

Production and composition

Hebden produced 45 tracks over the course of ten months, and fourteen of them appear on ''New Energy''. He initially planned it to be a minimal

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

LP, but "it came out more complex then planned," he explained. The album, apart from "Alap," "Two Thousand and Seventeen," "LA Trance," and "Daughter," departs from the glitch-y downtempo sound from his previous releases for a very uptempo, polished, listener-friendly style that's still "reflective enough to be more appropriate for home listening than club play," analyzed reviewer Paul Simpson. Despite this, elements from past Four Tet albums come together on ''New Energy''. As writer Andy Beta stated, it has "the low-key warmth of 2003’s '' Rounds'', the free jazz at the heart of 2005’s '' Everything Ecstatic'', the friendly thump of 2012’s '' Pink''," and "the sprawl of 2015’s '' Morning/Evening''." ''New Energy'' takes on a wide variety of styles, such as minimal bass music ("Planet"), ambient music ("Gentle Soul," "You Are Loved," and "Alap"),

neo-classical music Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the interwar period, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of " classicism", namely order, balance, ...

("10 Midi"),

deep house Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard ( ...

("SW9 9SL"), new age dance music ("Lush"),

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

("Alap"), trip-hop ("Daughter"), and UK garage ("SW9 9SL"). Described by some reviewers as the album's only club track, "SW9 9SL" is named after the post code of Brixton Academy where Hebden performed at night-time events that were purely about community and people which he felt was "important." The variety also extends to the record's palette of sounds, which consists of virtual instrument replications of acoustic instruments originating from all across the world. Daniel Cole of '' XLR8R'' suggested this was an "extension of his Spotify playlist of music from

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

countries he made earlier this year—in retaliation to the Trump travel ban."

Release

Four tracks from ''New Energy'' were issued before the full album was released: "Two Thousand and Seventeen" on 4 July 2017,Lee, Morgan (4 July 2017)
"Listen to Four Tet’s new single ‘Two Thousand and Seventeen"
''

Fact A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

''. Retrieved 1 March 2018. "Planet" on 2 August 2017, "SW9 9SL" on 25 August 2017, and "Scientists" on 13 September 2017. Text Records officially issued ''New Energy'' on 19 September 2017. Hebden contributed the first 1,000 vinyl and CD copies of ''New Energy'' to the online shop of the charitable organization

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

Critical reception

''New Energy'' received a five-star review from '' Q'' magazine, who called it Four Tet's best album and a "career-defining masterpiece." Simpson claimed that the LP "still maintains the creativity and unpredictability that have always made our Tet'swork stand out." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' stated that with ''New Energy'', "the English producer's proclivity for irresistible hooks is delivered through a palette of strummed strings, wistful timbres and delectable breaks that make for a satisfying and evocative body of work." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine's Andy Cush stated the album has "a desire to remove a listener from their surroundings and bring them someplace higher, no matter the means." Cole stated that it "finally feels like an album that is truly unique, and characteristic of Hebden’s style." His main praise was its use of global instruments, reasoning that it "create an open expanse, allowing room to breathe within the tracks, and a sense of stronger composure and musicianship on behalf of the producer." The culturally-tinged instrumentation was also honored in a ''Dancing Astronaut'' review: "''New Energy'''s serpentine instrumentation is a circuitous avoidance of sonic similarity, meditative and intricately-devised. Its tracks exude a panoptic enigma that is regenerated upon each new listen." As ''

'' explained the charm of the album, "Hebden's skill is to weave such ethnographic curiosities into the fabric of his own luminous electronica without it feeling like a dry curatorial exercise." Andrew Ryce honored it as "one of Hebden's most intimate and personal albums, with all the idiosyncrasies that come with that." He also noted that "its tranquil spirit and moments of hope make it almost transgressive at a time when other artists are channeling 2017's climate of fear and frustration into dark, angry sounds." Beta favorably reviewed the album, but also wrote that "at times, ebden'sattention to textures comes at the cost of exploring new terrain." Some reviews of the LP criticized the album's overly-calm, unsurprising style. However, ''The 405'' praised the relaxed aspect of the album, reasoning that while it has its "inborn drawbacks" and the entire record "is a consolidation rather than a progression," "its palate is so substantial and nourishing that such slight ambition is peripheral."Devlin, Kieran (5 October 2017)
"Review: Four Tet consolidates two decades of boundary-pushing production into the decidedly satisfying New Energy"
''The 405''. Retrieved 2 March 2018. ''Spectrum Culture'' panned the record's simple structure, reasoning that it continues the aspect of Four Tet's discography where each release decreases the project's "scale, size and ambition."Bromfield, Daniel (29 October 2017)
"Four Tet: New Energy"
''Spectrum Culture''. Retrieved 24 January 2018.

Accolades

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by Kieran Hebden.

Personnel

;Personnel *Kieran Hebden – production, writing *Tom Baker – hang on "Lush" *Matthew Cooper – design *Jason Evans – design, photography *

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is an American composer, performer and producer, originally from the Pacific Northwest and currently based in Los Angeles. Her work prominently employs Buchla modular synthesizers. She received acclaim for her albums ''Ears' ...

– additional

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

programming on "LA Trance" ;Software"New Energy"
Four Tet Official Website. Retrieved 28 February 2018.Dexter, Robyn (November 1, 2017)
"Four Tet answers questions about new album, 'New Energy'"

Associated Q&A
''Dancing Astronaut''. Retrieved March 1, 2018. * Ableton Live – Mixing and processing *Omnisphere, Kontakt, Dexed, Arturia V Collection,

Legowelt Legowelt (real name Danny Wolfers) is a Dutch composer, electronic musician and visual artist, whose music spawns a varying range of sub-genres. Life Danny Wolfers was born in The Hague, The Netherlands and grew up in the coastal neighbourh ...

Juno sample kit – sound generators * iPhone voice memos – field recording

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Four Tet albums Text Records albums Albums produced by Kieran Hebden