Country : United Kingdom Label : Text Genres and styles : Ambient / Electronic / House / Krautrock / Techno Year : 2020

Sixteen Oceans

· by Alain Brunet

The tenth studio album from the U.K.’s Kieran Hebden is valid… not exceptional. Sixteen Oceans is the consistent and rigorous album of an artist who has refined his aesthetic over two decades, following the flow of the same original inspiration. Inspired? Yes. Redundant? Pretty much, yes. Here is the tenth iteration of a familiar, appreciated, celebrated approach, that can be agreed upon. Let’s look at the materials: an anthology of sounds treated, filtered, or left intact adorn this electronic music; harmonies and consonant melodies are set over electronic styles of different allegiances – techno, house, krautrock – mostly intended for the dancefloor. Other “movements” bring things down a notch, the sounds hover, the ambient choices are judicious for the most part. Singer Ellie Goulding participates on the single “Baby”, so as to add a more pop flavour to the affair. What do you think? Let’s not deny our immediate pleasure but… we have to face the fact that Four Tet’s progress is thin on Sixteen Oceans. The artist’s harmonic vision is reaching its limits, his rhythmic knowledge is limited to the known terrain of electronic music, the organisation of sounds only admits of micro-reforms. Hebden won’t be able to milk this cow for a long time with this same mixture, lest he reconcile himself to becoming a figure of electro nostalgia, to which his successors will refer with admiration… which is commendable in itself. 

Latest 360 Content

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Sister Ray – Believer

Sister Ray – Believer

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

Women shine at the Quebec City Opera Festival

Women shine at the Quebec City Opera Festival

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

Festival d’art vocal de Montréal | Training the Next Generation of Lyric Artists, From Voice to Stage Direction

Festival d’art vocal de Montréal | Training the Next Generation of Lyric Artists, From Voice to Stage Direction

Nuits d’Afrique | Soul Bang’s, The King of Improvisation

Nuits d’Afrique | Soul Bang’s, The King of Improvisation

Nuits d’Afrique | Tyrane Mondeny: The Rising Star Has Reached Her Destination

Nuits d’Afrique | Tyrane Mondeny: The Rising Star Has Reached Her Destination

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, The Sound of Subtropical Pop

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, The Sound of Subtropical Pop

Nuits d’Afrique | Glowzi, in Soundsystem Mode

Nuits d’Afrique | Glowzi, in Soundsystem Mode

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal & Axé Experience, “Uma Festa” in The Rain

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal & Axé Experience, “Uma Festa” in The Rain

Subscribe to our newsletter