Artist: Nathan Fake
Title: Drowning In A Sea Of Love
Label: Border Community
By: Chloe Harris | 13 February 2006
Tracklist:

1. Stops
2. Grandfathered
3. Charlie's House
4. Bumblechord
5. Superpositions
6. Bawsey
7. The Sky Was Pink
8. You Are Here
9. Falmer
10. Long Sunny
11. Fell

Nathan Fake "Drowning In A Sea Of Love"

Nathan Fake, the young wunderkind from Norfolk, England, creates a masterful album for James Holden's heavyweight label Border Community. Nathan has been cultivating his sounds for the last few years with strong releases like 'Outhouse', 'Coheed' and 'The Sky Is Pink', with the latter being a highlight of this album. 'Drowning In A Sea Of Love' is an emotional and thoughtful album that never falls to far from any style, but never falls in just one.

The album begins with a quirky IDM tune, 'Stops' which sets up the album's creativity and fun without downplaying the drama. The twinkly notes flutter and flip through effects, while breathy highs and quick kicks flitter together becoming the percussion, sparking a memory of a short but sweet ride through a happy carnival. The slightly synth pop inspired 'Grandfathered' creeps in with a strong rhythm and rolling keys while retro drums blend in seamlessly, a mighty rush of off-kilter synths reaching an enduring climax towards the end, bringing it all down as it calms into tiny drops of notes.

'Charlie's House' is reminiscent of Boards Of Canada. Its slow moving bass, accompanied by trailing synths create a special backdrop for a guitar riff that sings. The crushed downtempo beats ease their way through key changes which are so slight and airy, that you barely notice when they trail off. To carry on with the almost ambient theme, 'Bumblechord' sweeps in with long drawn out pads that travel up and down keys slowly, while more pads rush over to add more drama. A clever turn towards the middle changes the tone as it falls away into nothing. An epic, but short piece of music.

The tone of the album changes with 'Superpositions', an almost punk retro tune full of guitars and rocking drums. Tight break beats filled with enough changes to make a drummer tired, fire on before falling into a buzz-rich synth that crashes in as it all fades away. 'Bawsey' is a strange and peculiar affair. Nathan's piano drops play out chords with a somber touch, before succumbing to a sickly effect that slows it all down changing its pace, as well as its tone.

When you hear the fade in of 'The Sky Was Pink' you know how epic this tune is going to be. Massive from the start, the shrilling guitar layers into a cinematic backdrop of head bobbing break beats and bold keys ride together. The guitar riff travels through dips and drops, thanks to a wiggly LFO and finally retreats once it’s fed into it too far. 'You Are Here' has elements of sweet laptop rock with its tiny airy drum snare and bubbling Casio toned keys. A slight bell tone drops in following a new chord, giving the song its melancholy edge, before trailing off and into a short silent break that opens up to a hard kick drum and a thick buzz of sound. 'Falmer' is a righteous wash of droning metallic sound that is as deep as it is dark.

Coming down to the last two tracks, Nathan reaches into his melodic and sweet sounds again. 'Long Sunny' with its slight rock feel, has an adorable synth that plays effortlessly inside the electronic drums. Clicking and clacking away, they are captured by large pads and a healthy bassline that builds into a blissful but intense sound. Guitar takes the center stage once again, strummed like a synth and playing emotional notes before ending with a metallic delay. Last but not least, 'Fell' is a mesmerizing slice of perfection. Phonem-like drums flip and flop in water like textures, while thick sweeping layers climb slowly in the background. It fades away slowly buzzing into silence, waiting for what comes moments later.

Nathan Fake pulled out all the stops for 'Drowning In A Sea Of Love', working endlessly on every part to come up with something different and challenging, full of life and full of style, that can’t be categorized into one genre, and it sounds like the hard work has paid off.