Drinks - Hippo Lite

From their debut album ‘Hermits On Holiday’ we know that the collaborative project of Cate Le Bon and White Fence’s Tim Presley strays from their own solo projects in favour of something more abstract. ‘Hippo Lite’ sees Drinks carry on in this same vein. Retreating to Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort (birthing the album’s name) they set about recording in the presence of and with assistance from Sweet Baboo’s Stephen Black.

Scattered with field recordings of the likes of insects and frogs with ‘saxophones in their throats’, the mill-turned-studio and its surrounding areas ooze out of the into the record’s atmosphere. As a listener, you can feel the dry heat of the Gallic summer and the late night chorus of the nearby lake making the album more than than just a musical document but an artefact of a specific time and place.

It flickers between moments of uneasy discordant harmonies reminiscent of Graeme Miller and Steve Shill’s Moomins soundscapes before plunging into more abstract harsh post punk tones. And despite that change in pace, it never seems to feel unnatural, managing to make each track glide into the next without any major clash.

The beauty in Drinks is that there’s nothing else too close to their sound. With moments of sheer chaotic genius married with brilliant songwriting, ‘Hippo Lite’ offers something new on every listen.