Arp – The Soft Wave

There’s been a lot of spacey drones about recently. The likes of Oneohtrix Point Never, Emeralds and Dolphins Into the Future have brought back sounds last popular thirty years ago when the likes of Tangerine Dream were rocking (?) the Coventry Cathedral. Arp’s 2007 album In Light was one of the first of the current crop, so it’s interesting to see The Soft Wave moving on, not cashing in. While the album isn’t a radical move into skiffle or grindcore, it is definitely an excursion on the version – and more interesting because of it.

Things do start fairly predictably with ‘Pastoral Symphony’ – or to give it it’s full title ‘Pastoral Symphony: I. Dominoes II. Infinity Room’. The title tells you all you really need to know – nine minutes of gently undulating warm synths and none the worse for it. But it’s with track two, ‘White Light’ that the surprises start. A sampled guitar loop surprises by sounding slightly funky and there’s noise albeit, gently in the background. This two minute miniature then gives way to ‘Alfa (Dusted)’ which whilst sonically back in the 70s, seems to be more under the sway of the more moody Cluster as opposed to the aforementioned Tangerine Dream.

The treated piano and feedback of ‘Catch Wave’ brings to mind an analogue Fennesz. Then ‘High Life’ follows more familiar territory. It still stands out by actually possessing something approaching a tune – heresy I know. ‘Grapefruit’ sounds conventionally horizontal – till the arrival of a bouncy delay laden bassline to perk it up and lift it out of the conventional.

The short, summery drone of ‘Summer Girl’ leads into the album’s biggest surprise. ‘From A Balcony Overlooking The Sea’ is a pleasant piece of pop. Yes, you did read that correctly, I said pop. It has a vocal and everything. OK, this isn’t Katy Perry but it is a pleasant song that recalls some of Eno’s vocal work on albums such as Another Green World or Before and After Science. As such it provides a great climax to the album – lending contrast to the abstract tracks that precede it. All that’s left is the pretty noise code of ”Silver Cloud’ to provide a full stop to an interesting hour length album.

The Soft Wave’s biggest strength is its variety. Unlike many of the albums of the current antique synth revivalists, it’s an album that suits a wider variety of moods. OK, a lot of them are mellow but compared to much of the competition, it’s a more articulate piece of work and dare I say it, perhaps one that will be remembered longer.