It’s an album that confirms Stott has been slowly building a platform and not a wall, raising himself above the murk to a midpoint where spotlight and shadow meet. It’s an exciting step forward for an artist who could easily have been content to hang back.
What Faith in Strangers does do is confirm Stott's position as one of the most stirring and explorative producers going.
Even at its darkest and furthest out, Faith In Strangers is as warm and engaging as albums that make standard inroads to listeners' hearts.
Stott looks patiently inside whirring machines and pulls out their constructed heartbeats; Faith in Strangers is simultaneously a machine and movement, a noun and a verb.
Faith In Strangers amplifies human interaction with the elements and the fractured nature of our relationship with them; this might not be the most joyful depiction, but it has been impeccably well documented here.
Instead of continuing their exploration of Problems‘ more meditative planes, here Stott and Skidmore delve back into the depths, mining mantle-crumbling beats engorged with dread and cautious beauty.
The album is another leap forward for the producer, refining his sense of songcraft and expanding his instrumental palette without sanding down his rough edges in the slightest.
Despite a radical switch from digital to analog gear, the album is as bleak and as bracing as Luxury Problems. Stott coaxes his harshest and gentlest sounds yet, sometimes within the same track.
Most of Faith in Strangers is a groove machine, albeit a despondent and sometimes hostile one.
Silence and space are savored even when the tempo ratchets up. But human tenderness still illuminates these tracks at their darkest
Nothing like a slice of deconstructed club to end the week with.
Faith in Strangers is the third album from English producer Andy Stott, released in November 2014 on the label Modern Love. Like his predecessor Luxury Problems, this album incorporates vocals from Alison Skidmore, Andy's former piano teacher.
The album was a critical success, appearing on many critics' year-end lists, as well being a decent commercial success, peaking at No. 11 in the UK Independent Album Breakers chart.
I ... read more
OUTDATED
Recommended by the lovely @UltimateLifeFrm!
Once again, an album that has been on my radar for a while, but I just kept pushing it back for no real reason. Well, here we are at last, Andy Stott's third studio album. I don't think I have too much to say about it (which I'm really sorry for), I generally enjoyed the album and once again, I will start with the single negative aspect of the project.
I don't think I like ambient music that much. It's quite lucky that it incorporates ... read more
Faith in Strangers is a very dark and cryptic album with great production. There are a lot of moments where I was curious how the track will change in the progression of the track. For example
Violence, from ambient pop with this loud synth to more techno-inspiring deconstructed club. The whole thing has a lot of high lights and overall listening to this is something different.
1 Time Away 6:24 - 7/10
2 Violence 6:37 - 10/10
3 On Oath 8:08 - 6/10
4 Science & Industry 5:32 - 8/10
5 No Surrender 4:58 - 9/10
6 How It Was 6:09 - 5/10
7 Damage 4:35 - 9/10
8 Faith In Strangers 6:29 - 9/10
9 Missing 4:55 - 9/10
Really enjoy this project from Andy, Great Dub Techno and ambient mix. its a great experience if you do not have a bad attention span
1 | Time Away 6:24 | 78 |
2 | Violence 6:37 | 86 |
3 | On Oath 8:08 | 76 |
4 | Science & Industry 5:32 | 73 |
5 | No Surrender 4:58 | 76 |
6 | How It Was 6:09 | 85 |
7 | Damage 4:35 | 69 |
8 | Faith In Strangers 6:29 | 89 |
9 | Missing 4:55 | 76 |
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