Drift - 11 Points In Time

DRIFT. is Nathalia Bruno and 11 Points In Time her second record under that name, and the first on which she’s joined by a number of players from her other band, Index For Working Musik. Despite their involvement, DRIFT. is markedly Bruno’s vision, noticeably more sensual and feminine than the lysergic rock/anti-rock expulsions of Index. I was fortunate enough to catch a late night performance in a small low lit warehouse-cum-gallery type space in London last weekend, which proved the ideal setting for their midnight-dwelling artful elegance, which fuses Chris and Cosey derived synth seduction with minimal wave austerity and the slo-mo no wave disco torch songs of early Johnny Jewel. Since 11 Points... is released via Steve Gullick’s God Unknown label, there was always bound to be a smartly realised command of aesthetics on show, though Bruno manages to pull it off in a way that doesn't feel especially common in London right now (most others seem to be a bit too scruffy and proud of it - something to hide perhaps, fellas?). Is it what we might call glamour? Perhaps, though it's a very specific, non-21st century kind of allure at play, almost classical in its restraint, whispering its secrets so as to make those leaning in to hear feel all that more part of something. Ultimately, 11 Points in Time proves slightly out of time and all the better for it.