I have a system of analysis for beat tapes: imagine playing them over a five second YouTube ad for gym supplements, or a loading screen for a hotel lobby TV. If you can describe the music as ‘appropriately neutral, wholly inoffensive, and almost insultingly innocuous’ above the visual aid, then it has failed. A fair chunk of Genes comes close to that (admittedly subjective) criteria. It is an album of longing and loving, and when it makes little diversions or elongates the dubbier drops, it feels warm, nourishing, and well-paced. Nostalgia is an appropriate artistic vessel for exploring genes, but it needn’t be quite so sedate.
19/30
A favourite: ‘This Life In Space’
‘Genes’ is out now, self-released.
100 words music reviews 