Raffertie - Sleep Of Reason

Having spent much of the past four years establishing himself as the go-to remixer for acts as diverse as Wolfgang, Wild Beasts and Franz Ferdinand, London-based electronic producer Raffertie has finally got his own shot at the limelight with the release of debut album ‘Sleep Of Reason’.

And what a breathtaking debut it is. A beautiful, immersive combination of organic and synthetic sonic elements, opener ‘Undertow’ lays out the musical blueprint for much of what’s to follow. It’s instantly engaging, brimming with cinematic textures and oozing with ambience, and despite the complex abundance of flitting noises and effects that constantly drift through the track, there’s a structural minimalism at play here that’s exemplified by the single repeating vocal line and looping chord progression.

Recent single ‘Build Me Up’ sees him lean towards the slightly poppier end of the spectrum, with a heavy beat and his smooth, R&B-tinged vocals occupying the fore, offset by an experimental and other-worldly quality that seems to permeate through every track. Built around a simple, continuous four-line lyric, it meshes well with the seemingly random interjections of abrasive noise and vocal harmonics to create a sweet balance of complex, playful elements with more lucid and clear-cut sections.

‘Gagging Order’ and ‘Principle Action’ offer up glimpses of Raffertie employing an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ style of production. Things get messy at times, lacking in clarity and focus, but never fail to take you on some sort of fascinating journey through the man’s warped and distorted approach to songwriting. Closer ‘Back of the Line’ showcases him at his most spectacular; distorted guitars and drums and massive vocal harmonies evocative of a more band-orientated sound; perhaps hinting at an enticing future direction?

Filled with experimental electronic goodness but maintaining a graspable simplicity throughout, ‘Sleep Of Reason’ is a gorgeous and rewarding listen. It possesses a consistently melancholic nature, but moments of elation and an unending soulfulness stop it from becoming bogged down in misery. Similarities to contemporaries AlunaGeorge (an act he released – and pretty much discovered – through his Super Recordings label early on in their career) are there, but where they opt for the pop route, Raffertie very much diverges into the experimental, offering an entirely different, but equally captivating angle on the same genre.