Engine

Engine - Cucumber Water

At the back end of 2017, the carefree spirit of Engine returned with their debut EP 'Cucumber Water'. Lets check out what the Burley experimentalist have to offer:

Cucumber Water

An effortless amalgamation of all things Four Tet, Steve Mason and Tame Impala. Pyschetronica? Elecdelia? Expect a new scene to be born out of this!

Emotively this has a great sense of togetherness and loving cohesiveness. Like so much great music, it dialectically opposes itself and also strains and struggles to hold on to what it has whilst searching for something. Something that may, or may not exist.

Funeral Blues

Despite the title, there is very little morbidity contained within this seven minute yarn. Throughout, there is a sense of confusion which is not uncommon around grief. At various junctions though, there are shimmers of light creeping through the cracks to lift your head above water just enough for hope to remain.

Al’s Chords

The humble acoustic guitar beginnings are a million miles away from the big noise soundscape ending and yet, this feels like seamless (but eventful)) journey. It has a dreamlike and shoegaze quality that Erol Alkan is bound to approve of. Plus, the Kevin Parker-esque vocals are touch of class.

Not Surprised

Mixing Detroit Techno and Deep House traditions with the pop instincts of Tame Impala give off the sensation Inside No.9 often does. The enjoyment that something is not quite right looms large and it’s impossible to switch off until you know what it is.

The little nuggets of guitars and saxophone offer a break from the tense beats and bass but, ultimately, you’re going to be sucked into this murky world of the unknown.

Engine - Formulate A Plan

Timing is everything in music right? Well, Monday night, Radio X’s shining light John Kennedy played ‘Formulate A Plan’ by Leeds outfit Engine. As the flying ants swarmed and humans melted in the unrelenting heat, this single came floating by like the breeze we’ve all been desperate for.

Weather aside, this is a remarkable feat for a debut single. Some artists take three albums to carve out this sort of identity. Producer Dom Freeman has got the heart of James Yorkston’s ‘Woozy With Cider’ here and thus, allowed the bands scattergun nodes of psyche to really shine throughout.

Vocally, it provides many of the great dialectics alternative music can provide. Singer James Elson sounds a polished performer but, there is still a hint of fragility which makes you wonder, might this sun drenched dream drift away at some point? It’s something that Bobby Gillespie and Martin Courtney (Real Estate) have done better than most in recent times and now Elson can begin to dream of adding himself to that list.

 

Check out more from the band on their Soundcloud page:

https://soundcloud.com/the-engine-1/formulate-a-plan