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It’s certainly no rare thing to have a producer that straddles both the more experimental world of electronic music and the instant satisfaction of pop. The real challenge comes in finding someone who makes the combination of the two seem somehow effortless. The likes of James Blake and Nicolas Jaar both have a penchant for soulful crooning which no doubt helped them win a lot of fans, but then they also decorate much of their music in avant-garde trinkets, possibly as a means of compensation for their accessible tendencies.
As a newcomer to the sound of CFCF, it’s hard to know what his legacy has foretold with an album and numerous EPs behind him, particularly for Paper Bag Records and more recently RVNG Intl. Based in Montreal (which has long been a home to weird but ultimately fun musicians), Michael Silver is the man behind the CFCF music, and it’s certainly instantly charming to the ear.
The lead track “Cometrue” warms to life on a melancholic but incredibly smooth piano hook. The beat comes in with a minimum of fuss; a conserved 2-step funk at an easy pace, while the yearning vocal hook comes not from an old R&B record but rather something more romantic. There’s something of the emotionally ambiguous feeling of 1980s synth pop about the track which makes it very easy to listen to.
“Looking So” on the flip has the same downbeat qualities, although this time Silver plumps for a helium vocal snippet alongside the almost elegiac mood of the rest of the track. Once again the beat ticks away dutifully in the background while the considered melodies do their work.
D’eon’s remix of “Cometrue” is a nice surprise, bouncing to life on the kind of chimes that early electronica in the vein of The Black Dog made such great use of. The primitive techno percussion accentuates this feeling even more, creating a rather divine slice of ambience, inducing the kind of glassy-eyed reverie that a good ambient track should.
Oli Warwick
