You'll have to forgive Sam Shepherd for taking seven years to release his first full-length record — he was busy earning a Ph.D. in neuroscience.
After releasing a slew of white label records in 2008, Shepherd (aka Floating Points) went on to sharpen his craft by releasing a handful of 12-inches and EPs before forming the 16-member Floating Points Ensemble. The long-awaited Elaenia seems to benefit from this long gestation period, as the album's seven tracks are well conceived. Although the music on Elaenia can be classified as electronic, Shepherd doesn't hesitate to inject some of his jazz and classical influences on tracks like the pulsating throwback "Thin Air" and the smooth and keyboard tempered "For Marmish."
But what makes his debut so appealing is that Shepherd never sounds too rigidly loyal to any genre or sound, making Elaenia a fascinating and confident debut from a tenured rookie.
(Luaka Bop)After releasing a slew of white label records in 2008, Shepherd (aka Floating Points) went on to sharpen his craft by releasing a handful of 12-inches and EPs before forming the 16-member Floating Points Ensemble. The long-awaited Elaenia seems to benefit from this long gestation period, as the album's seven tracks are well conceived. Although the music on Elaenia can be classified as electronic, Shepherd doesn't hesitate to inject some of his jazz and classical influences on tracks like the pulsating throwback "Thin Air" and the smooth and keyboard tempered "For Marmish."
But what makes his debut so appealing is that Shepherd never sounds too rigidly loyal to any genre or sound, making Elaenia a fascinating and confident debut from a tenured rookie.