Musician Daniel Avery on his earlier Mute Records releases carried on the real legacy of that imprint. While his new album is on Domino, that spirit of his prior recordings continues. Tremor is bold, and still wildly engaging. This is exactly how to make a record rooted in the promise of synth-pop.
The pounding beats of "Rapture in Blue" anchor the deliberate hook of the tune, guest vocals from Cecile Believe guiding things forward. Avery's keyboards and percussion effects give this one real heft. Elsewhere, "Haze" with Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice is superb alt-rock. It's closer to peak Garbage than it is to Avery's own past stuff, frankly. When shoegaze sensations bdrmm join in, the record hits one of many peaks. "A Silent Shadow" is sinuous and, when the beats hit, oddly funky. It's a bracing cut, and with a vibe like late Eighties Depeche Mode which a kind of sense given that this is one of many tracks here mixed by Alan Moulder.
Tremor is a record of partnerships. The peaks here, like "New Life" with yunè pinku, "The Ghost of Her Smile" with Julie Dawson of NewDad, "In Keeping (Soon We'll Be Dust)" with Walter Schreifels of Quicksand, and "Greasy Off the Racing Line" with Alison Mosshart of The Kills, are pretty high ones, and even when he's not letting a guest in on the fun, Daniel Avery seems to still be operating as an artist eager to bring his sound to the masses. Oddly accessible, Tremor superbly combines the synth-pop of Avery's past, with a real forward-looking pop approach. It's not that this is going to hit radio in a big way or anyway, but this is the sort of record that will undoubtedly earn Avery a ton of new fans. He's stretching here a bit, and the results are rather glorious either when taken as a whole over the course of this expansive and inventive album, or in the smaller doses of the collaborations on the singles. Highly recommended indeed.
Tremor by Daniel Avery is out tomorrow via Domino. Details below via Bandcamp as well.
[Photo: Kalpesh Lathigra]