Despite the ‘group’ name, THE FLOATATION PROJECT is primarily the brainchild of former La’s and Lightning Seeds guitarist extraordinaire Paul Hemmings. It’s a project he’s been carefully nurturing over the past few years and his previous releases – the arresting ‘Sonic Stories’ (2005) and the following year’s exploration of space ‘Sounds from the Solar System’ – were entirely deserving of their enthusiastic reception at W&H.
Since then, things have been rather quiet on the FP front, but now Paul has returned with not one, but two new albums courtesy of ‘Made Out of Worldly Shapes’ and ‘Late Night Blue’: both of which are available (via download) from Liverpool’s excellent Viper Label.
While ‘Sonic Stories’ featured guest turns from Space’s Tommy Scott, ex-Hokum Clone Robby Stevenson and Marina Van Rooy from 8 Productions, ‘Sounds from the Solar System’ was a far more personal one-man mission into deep space and both of these new slabs of sound make like worthy and logical successors.
‘Made out of Worldly Shapes’ is a left-field treat, yet while it’s wholly instrumental and respectful of mood, it’s never less than engaging. Yes, there are languid, ambient excursions like ‘City of Angels’ and the brief and oblique ‘Whirl Wind’, but these seemingly fragile creations reveal colour and texture after a couple of listens, while the nocturnal webs of sound spun by the acoustic ‘Blue’ are frail but unassumingly lovely.
Elsewhere, Paul’s fondness for Krautrock seeps through on tracks like ‘Bent out of Shape’ - with its’ jazzy, shape-shifting drumming and kaleidoscopic guitars - and ‘Slow Dive’ where the droning E-bow guitars sound like harmoniums. The album’s stand out track is arguably ‘Feinheit 105’ where fractured guitars scratch out glorious melodies over the slow heartbeat hiss of a Suicide-style drum machine.
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Designed as something of a ‘sister’ piece, the second new Floatation Project release ‘Late Night Blue’ was recorded in the witching hours over an intense four-night spell and while it’s a little more low-key, it’s equally beguiling, with the Neu!-style motorik rhythms of the aptly-title ‘Machine’ meshing with the heady, spiritual flow of ‘Confusion’, while the jarring Aphex Twin-esque excursion ‘Deep’ jars you awake and the self-explanatory ‘Slumber’ lulls you into serenity. ‘Twisted Wheel’ is the pick of the crop this time with scratchy guitars sparring brilliantly with dub-style bass and that primitive drum machine again making its’ presence felt.
Both ‘Made out of Worldly Shapes’ and ‘Late Night Blue’ strike a fine balance between beauty and darkness. Full of shape-shifting nocturnes, they are a glimpse into subtle new worlds and are a real credit to their creator’s experimental craft.
The Viper Label online
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