Boomkat (UK)

This is a nice surprise – it’s always nice to see someone like Taylor Deupree who is traditionally associated with longer-form works getting to flex his brain bits on a ‘single’. Journal might even be his best work in years, and sees Deupree not only restricting himself in terms of duration, but also in the gear that he utilizes; only a single synthesizer, two field recordings and (seriously) his voice made it to the final mix. The first thing that strikes me is how noisy opening track ‘Journal’ was in comparison with Taylor’s previous works; tape saturation and hiss prove absolutely central to this track, and while vocals only appear towards the end even those are treated to some serious grit and grime. Peeping through the noisy blur however, we might just have one of Taylor’s most affecting tracks yet – and the distant, indistinct melodies will lodge themselves inside those popping synapses for some time. ‘Attic’ on the flip is just as grand, coming across like an ancient hymn piped through a battered Gramophone, complete with all the dust, grit and haze you’d expect to find. It’s a new direction for Taylor, and one we hopefully haven’t seen the last of. Highly recommended.