Crush

Whatever wavelength Shepherd is on, Crush is the almost untouchable proof that no-one else is anywhere near it.

An album to be experienced rather than listened to, Crush takes the listener through the light and dark portions of the active listening mind, further proving Floating Points as a singularly talented producer.

While certain elements—a distorted rhythm here, a shuddering synth there—can be traced back to those rough-and-tumble live shows with the xx, the LP as a whole is strikingly melodic and often beautiful, even in its most frantic moments.

Tracks such as thunderous LesAlpx aim for the dancefloor but wherever Crush is listened to — in a club, on the night bus home, or yes, an airport — there’s plenty to discover, so long as you’re willing to delve in deep enough.

Beautifully crafted, Crush unsettles with its quiet, fervent chaos bubbling beneath its surface.

Crush is an insight into Shepherd’s brilliant mind and – such is the sheer variety of this album – a way to inspire one’s own imagination.

Unexpected and inventive, it’s well worth a trip into the unknown.

Here Shepherd has managed to capture both the febrile chaos and decaying beauty of the world we’re living in, on an album that crushes myriad ideas into one big sonic collision.

A richly pleasurable balancing act between brain and body, academic seminar and night club, cerebral experiment and sensory feast.

An emphatically alluring experience.

Crush may be some of Floating Points’ most assertive work, but sinking into its rich and deeply layered textures reaps countless rewards.

At its hypnotic heights, Crush mixes Shepherd's background in beats-building with the melodic and melancholy expanses of his more recent work.

Put simply, ‘Crush’ is a triumph: the ideal meeting of brains and brawn over a journey that manages to feel both concise and exploratory.

Crush certainly comes across as fragmentary, as if a dozen tracks, at least a couple albums worth of ideas, were truncated, quickly sequenced, and packed onto one LP. That said, it's hard to imagine more forethought and deliberation resulting in a listen more riveting than this one.