Crush
Improvisational Buchla synthesizer experiments collide with sweeping strings and aggressive drum machine patterns. A restless, deeply cinematic electronic journey.
Improvisational Buchla synthesizer experiments collide with sweeping strings and aggressive drum machine patterns. A restless, deeply cinematic electronic journey.
Spontaneous departure
A sudden blast of distorted Buchla synthesizer gives way to wet, wooden clicks and the swell of a real string section. Recorded in a rush of improvisation, these tracks feel like watching ink spill and bloom across wet paper. You are suspended between the warmth of live players and the cold, metallic snap of a drum machine. It is a restless, cinematic night walk through a city that keeps shifting its shape around you.
While some reviewers felt the album’s restless, experimental ideas resulted in a somewhat fragmented structure, Crush was broadly admired for its rich contrasts between vibrant electronic energy and quiet, melodic moments. Ultimately, critics welcomed the record as an adventurous, finely detailed experience that rewards patient listening despite its underlying tensions.
“After a run of dates playing “obtuse, strange” music as a warm-up act for the xx, Sam Shepherd translates that experimental energy to an album of mischievous, melodic, stripped-down electronic music”Read review
“Crush may not be the album more recent converts to Floating Points may have hoped for, but it is worthy of our undivided attention regardless”Read review
“Beautifully crafted, Crush unsettles with its quiet, fervent chaos bubbling beneath its surface”Read review
“Crush is an insight into Shepherd’s brilliant mind and – such is the sheer variety of this album – a way to inspire one’s own imagination”Read review
“A fascinating album, one that reveals more of its treasures with each listen”Read review
“Though the sonic explorations undermine the album’s overall cohesiveness, Crush remains a shining example of Shepherd’s growth as an artist, and his willingness to push boundaries well into his career”Read review
“Crush certainly comes across as fragmentary, as if a dozen tracks, at least a couple albums worth of ideas, were truncated, quickly sequenced, and packed onto one LP. That said, it’s hard to imagine more forethought and deliberation resulting in a listen more riveting than this one”Read review
“Truly, an album to savour”Read review
“Floating Points’ Crush is an album of profound contrasts. For every track designed to electrify the dancefloor, there is a gentle sweeping orchestral piece”Read review
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