Seefeel / SUCCOUR (REDUX)

It makes sense that indie types were annoyed when experimental shoegaze troupe Seefeel followed up the widely-acclaimed “Quique” with “Succour”, signing to the then electronic focused Warp imprint in the process. They were the first Warp act to wield guitars, and this made dull synth lads mad and the guitar bores confused. In other words, Seefeel were doing things the right way.

Now, ‘Succour’ sounds way ahead of the game. Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock took the textural shimmer of early post-rock pioneers like Talk Talk and Bark Psychosis and wove it into the backdrop of tracks influenced by Aphex Twin’s moody “Selected Ambient Works Volume II” and Global Communication’s “76:14”. In doing so, they ushered in decades of musical cross pollination, from Radiohead to F*ck Buttons and beyond.

Just peep ‘Fracture’, that sounds like the overlapping e-bow feedback from Popol Vuh’s “Aguirre” soundtrack or Talk Talk’s “Spirit of Eden” alongside AFX’s “Analogue Bubblebath” clang. Or the skeletal ‘Ruby-Ha’, that loops Sarah Peacock’s disembodied moans over a beat so spare it sounds like it could disintegrate at any moment. It’s an awkward mix that sounded out of time when it was released and might be even more effective now, with time allowed to let it breathe. Boasting a fresh master from Stefan Betke (aka Pole), it’s never sounded better.