While UK jazz / electronic band Red Snapper spent the late nineties as forerunners of the post-acid jazz movement and signed to Warp, following 2003’s self-titled rarities collection they announced their hiatus, eventually re-emerging during 2007 for their comeback collection ‘Pale Blue Dot’s on Lo Recordings. Four years on, this latest album ‘Key’ in many senses represents Red Snapper’s most stylistically diverse collection yet, with the core trio of Ali Friend, Richard Thair and David Taylor being joined in the studio by saxophonist Tom Challenger and vocalists Gavin Clarke (UNKLE, Clayhill) and Eliza Carthy (Patrick Wolf). While there’s certainly a broad range of sonic territory covered on the 14 tracks collected here, in truth it’s the addition of these extra elements to the band’s core that occasionally proves to be slightly more awkward here.
Indeed, many of ‘Key’s strongest moments arrive when the core trio focus on building tightly coiled instrumental grooves, such as ‘Chimee’s frenetic blend of tumbling melodic percussion tones and clattering live breakbeats, which sees Challenger’s virtuoso sax performance ascending around Thair’s elastic double-bass runs and a growling backdrop of synths in a manner that evokes the group’s ‘Making Bones’-era dancefloor-jazz excursions. ‘Racing Snake’ meanwhile offers up an impressive shuffling electronic-jazz excursion that sees noirish sax runs arcing like smoke beneath treacherously timestretched electronics and a vast backdrop of cinematic orchestration, while ‘Spikey’ sees a spectral wash of brass and woodwind tones wafting out amidst slow percussion and creeping double-bass runs, in an atmospheric, Middle Eastern-tinged moment that’s easily one of the biggest highlights here. Elsewhere unfortunately, it’s the vocally fronted offerings that prove slightly more uneven; while ‘Architectronic’ sees Gavin Clarke’s weary soul harmonies fusing effectively with a slow, hypnotic backdrop of metronomic programmed beats and beeping electronics, the venture towards overdriven rock stylings on the Eliza Carthy-fronted ‘Loveboat’s represents this collection’s most awkward moment, coming across at points like some cross between Skunk Anansie and an UNKLE outtake. For the most part though, ‘Key’ represents a strong album from Red Snapper that sees the UK trio continuing to evoke some genuine thrills.
Chris Downton
