Rather than expanding on 2010’s dynamic Black Noise, Pantha Du Prince reduces his sound down further for his latest release, Elements Of Flight. Paired with a Norway collective known as The Bell Laboratory, it’s basically one continuous song subtly broken down into five parts. The centerpiece is a bell carillon, a three-ton instrument made up of 50 bronze bells.
It has all the markings of an experimental ambient masterpiece. And yet the end result doesn’t really break any new ground, opting to tastefully pay homage to classic electronica, but with echoes of the sort of modern-day classical music practiced by Philip Glass. It’s difficult to grasp any continuity from Weber’s past work or hints at a new direction, just a delicate, somewhat clinical meeting of two minds.
The constant chiming bell sound is something synonymous with beat-driven music from the classic Warp years, but it’s also already a familiar percussive element within Weber’s own back catalogue. You can’t help but will the exploration of music to be pushed further, go deeper, take us somewhere new. Some of the intricacies come through on repeated listens, but overall the lack of range is frustrating.
Elements Of Light is an easy listen, ideal if you want some polite techno music to put on the background. It’s a step toward Weber becoming electronica’s prince of lightness, but I’m more taken with the darker, more eclectic Black Noise.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
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