Your reviewer's knowledge of STATE RIVER WIDENING mainstay David Sheppard was previously confined to his work with ex-Weather Prophets leader Peter Astor as both Wisdom Of Harry and Ellis Island Sound, and having seriously enjoyed last year's groove-ridden "Ellis Island Sound" album, initially expected something in a similar vein with Sheppard possibly indulging his passion for Krautrock vanguards like Neu! and Cluster.
"Early Music," though, presents an entirely more pastoral soundscape, full of warm, organic arrangements where the acoustic guitar is largely crowned king for a day and Sheppard, co-instrumentalist Keiron Phelan and drummer Jon Steele seem happy to go with the nagging, rhythmic flow and unhurriedly present some of the loveliest instrumentals you're liable to hear all year.
In some respects, attempting to cherry pick tracks undermines the power of the whole creation as "Early Music" is such a seamless listen, though the beguiling beauty of each individual track gradually seeps through.
The gorgeous, undulating "New Title" gets proceedings underway, with Jon Steele's sympathetic, rolling drums the perfect foil for the evocative, softly-strummed guitars. Track four, "Zaanse Schans" sounds almost like a sister piece, actually, with similar musical ingredients taking a path a little further off the beaten track.
Overall, the album that "Early Music" reminds me most of is Talk Talk's "Spirit Of Eden". Indeed, both "For Hessen" - which builds subtly with some lovely hammond organ and Steele's insistent heartbeat drums - and "Early Music" itself remind strongly of that album's (disciplined) sense of freedom and wonder.
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"Highest Point On The Island", meanwhile, veers off at a separate tangent. Slightly more in thrall to technology than most of its' cohorts here, its' attractive loops and marimba grooves move stealthily, oddly recalling "San Jacinto" from Peter Gabriel's fourth album to these ears. That's probably just me, though.
"Early Music" signs off with two further treasures in the jazzy beats and quasi-psychedelic wash of "Blindness For A Sky" and "Softscene", where Steele's metronomic genius again stars, offset by a burrowing, subterranean bassline and subtle colouring from Sheppard and Phelan. Like its predecessors, however, it makes a point of not outstaying its' welcome and ensures the album's deliciously brittle atmosphere remains intact to the end.
"Early Music", then, is a beautiful, understated exercise in serenity, basking in a special, rarefied air all its' own. Relax and breathe in: it'll do you all the good in the world.
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