On his latest record, Faith In Strangers, Andy Stott takes his time creating suspense and tension. The electronic producer from Manchester, England has steadily improved and transformed his sound since his debut album, Merciless, eight years ago on the Modern Love label. Stott stands out from fellow musicians in the techno genre by stretching out songs, musical phrases and even notes.
The first tracks, “Time Away” and “Violence,” are patient and foreboding. Stott spends nine minutes of the 53-minute album simply building anticipation with drawn-out notes before he even introduces a consistent beat. When the beat does arrive, it is jarring and it shocks the listener with intermittent electronic ripples that pierce the smooth calm like shots of adrenaline. Paired with the haunting hum of vocalist Alison Skidmore, Stott’s former piano teacher, the result is a terrifying, twisted lullaby.
Stott speeds the album up again with the shimmery “No Surrender.” The track begins with the flutter of constant wind chimes, but quickly transforms into something entirely different. The chimes become harsher as the beat ramps up like a train slowly picking up speed in the countryside. The chugging rapidly progresses into robotic chirping and beeping, converting “No Surrender” from cheerful to sinister.
Faith In Strangers ends on a good note with the track “Missing.” Lacerating beats trip frenetically as Skidmore whispers indistinguishable words over the top, creating more of a mood than describing a picture. Her voice stays with you as the clicking rhythm fades out.
As a whole, Faith In Strangers is very intricate and intriguing; the complex rhythms and the melancholy style make the record an ideal study soundtrack. However, the album feels excessively electronic and impersonal, as if it is the creation of a machine in a science fiction novel, not of a human being. The result is interesting music and engaging themes that unfortunately don’t say much of anything.
But perhaps Stott wasn’t trying to say anything at all. Perhaps he simply wanted a weird, terrifying, otherworldly record that sounded uniquely his own. In that case, he succeeded.
Rating: A-
