The art of understatement, likeable and restrained. That is how the self-titled debut by People Press Play begins. Synthetic sounds form echo-loops that, in a very similar way, could easily stem from Kevin Shields' guitar as well. Rhythms take a deep breath, a woman's nonchalant voice changes between relaxed jazz and reduced easy listening. My Bloody Valentine and My Funny Valentine. Four people – Sara Savery, Anders Remmer, Jesper Skaaning and Thomas Knak – and their careful game with sounds.
The ingredients are well-chosen, the atmosphere is intimate, close to the ear. There still is this passion for repetitive structures, duplication and modulation as the three of them – the boys – have already worked on together since the 1990ies. Future 3 is the name of their joint project, three albums and twelve years old. But People Press Play is not just Future 3 plus a female singer. It is more breathing, there is more space. An intensive time in the studio; analogue instruments and digital resources often have an equal rank. Sound- and song-writing go hand in hand. Still the passion for Steve Reich's or Brian Eno's minimal concept music is audible, still the love for dub resounds through this debut album. At the same time all that ends up in an almost classic band context. Digital and analogue moments really find in another, each sound is important, not only as an ornament.
»Always Wrong« is a melancholy affair of the heart, surrounded by murmuring nuances, electronic folk from the echo chamber. »These Days« is electro pop with clear outlines, pushing, elegant, oscillating. Finally, there is »Stop«, the song that the album ends with, with a weightless wall of sound, a white roaring, a bass guitar within the surf.
Moreover, all artists engaged carry on being active within their solo projects as well: Savery (aka Sara Savery), Dub Tractor (Anders Remmer), Acustic (Jesper Skaaning) and Opiate (Thomas Knak).
