Internationally diffuse and supremely well travelled collective Cold Light finally unleash their debut album for FO (Rest Symbol, Ibrahim Alfa Jr.) after a series of shorter-run releases for the likes of 12th Isle, Accidental Meetings, Felt++. Coldtron2 certainly feels like the sum of its ingredients, a concoction of contributions from rappers and producers drawn from the worldwide electronic underground (Portland to Bristol to south London to… Hungary!) that speaks to the current moment in experimental post-genre/post-NTS music making, summoning the ghosts of dub, trip hop, ambient, grime & hip hop, downtempo and dreampop into a smoky plume of afterhours angst and self-reflection. There’s a lot of voices involved here, though never to the detriment of the record’s overall coherence - this doesn’t feel like a record made by committee, but instead via an agreed vision. I wonder, was there one guiding hand more dominant here than another? If pushed, I’d say this sounds like a very Bristol-coded collection, even when the various accents of the assorted vocalists (rappers, singers, spoken word contributions) suggest other parts of the world. It’s written in the spirit of an ever-inquiring sonic language that has long been a staple approach to Bristolian soundsystem culture and its various transgressions in electronic sound production and approaches. Young Echo seem like as good a reference point as any, though you may also hear traces of label mates Rest Symbol, the open-ended approach of Babyfather or Vegyn, which taken as a whole will give you a pretty clear idea as to the attitude being channeled here. Highlights all over the place, but if you’ve only a moment to dip in, start with the epic ‘Fields in B’ a Rhythm and Sound-styled dubwise descent into late night retrospective brimming with lyrical wisdom and expert production choices. Another inspiring transmission from the ever cross-pollinating world underground.
FFO: Young Echo, Jabu, Rest Symbol, Babyfather, Rhythm & Sound
