Following up FOUR TET'S influential "Rounds" albums was never going to easy, but with the typically playful "Smile Around The Face", FT mainman Kieran Hebden proves he's equal to the challenge once again.
As ever, the electronica/ post-rock worlds are Hebden's oyster, as he continues to utilise whatever takes his fancy and - predictably - turns it into something akin to spun gold. This time round, "Smile Around The Face" opens with a Roland drum machine sound reminiscent of The Beastie Boys' "Shadrach" (from the much misunderstood "Paul's Boutique" album) and gradually builds into a bouncily colourful, cyclical affair with speeded up vocal samples meshing with the background to become loops and rhythms rather than words in the traditional sense.
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Naturally, it all morphs into something rhythmic and truly intelligent and suggests the one thing Kieran Hebden ISN'T doing is running out of ideas. At this juncture, I've no idea if "Smile Around The Face" is typical of what new album "Everything Ecstatic" will achieve, but the smart money suggests it's Four Tet's dust the post-rock crowd will be eating once again in the very near future.
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