Producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Marc, who's emerged as a key figure of London's cutting edge jazz scene, has just announced his debut full length, a follow up to last September's widely acclaimed Breathe Suite EP (heralded by NPR, Pitchfork, The Wire, The Guardian, and more). Glass Effect is an assured and accomplished 13-track realization of a singular vision that unifies a multitudinous profusion of influences (free-jazz, broken beat, hip-hop, electronica and beyond) into a sublime whole, underscoring the evolution of his quest for a distinctive sound: lambent, low-key, and yet dizzyingly intricate.
It's a rare talent that can link Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, Afrofuturists Sun Ra Arkestra, and grime legend Dizzee Rascal, but Marc has long blurred musical worlds and criss-crossed boundaries. One of the reasons that he started writing Glass Effect, says Marc, was going to nightclubs in Ibiza and experiencing the heady sun-dappled euphoria of a summery dancefloor, as well as the beat-driven production of artists like Four Tet, Bonobo, Machinedrum, DJ Shadow, and Madlib.
"it's full of strength, beauty and speaks to the future" - NPR
"The music swirls and floats past like a multicolored cloud" - STEREOGUM
"swirling arrangements-which synthesize jazz, hip-hop, neoclassical, and electronic" - PITCHFORK
FOR FANS OF: Bonobo, BADBADNOTGOOD, Four Tet, Caribou, Flying Lotus, Cinematic Orchestra
Released 16 Jun 22.
| Side 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Way We Are" (3:15) | |
| 2. | "Sometimes Slow" (3:18) | |
| 3. | "Dark Clouds" (3:25) | |
| 4. | "Straight No Chasing" (2:54) | |
| 5. | "Give Me Time" (4:40) | |
| 6. | "Glass Effect" (3:09) | |
| Side 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "First Batch" (2:50) | |
| 2. | "Jaw Bone" (3:12) | |
| 3. | "Keep Moving" (3:42) | |
| 4. | "This Time Next Year" (2:51) | |
| 5. | "Sweet Nineteen" (2:50) | |
| 6. | "Mustard" (2:47) | |
| 7. | "Make Way" (3:05) | |