Four Tet released his excellent album Three earlier this year, and in our 8/10 review of the album, we said that it was "familiar-sounding to anyone acquainted with Four Tet's back catalogue." Now, that idea has been echoed by Kieran Hebden himself, as he has suggested that this might be the last time he makes a traditional Four Tet album in his classic style.
Speaking with the podcast Tape Notes, he revealed that the song "Daydream Repeat" features a clip of guitar noise from his old post-rock band Fridge, recorded during a live show at London's Bull & Gate pub while he was a teenager.
He said that using a clip from his early days felt appropriate, because of how Three acts as the final word on some of his sonic signatures. He said that album is "about all the music I've already made. Sort of a culmination of all the other records I'd made."
He went on to share his headspace while making the album. "Maybe I'll never make another Four Tet album in this sort of style like this," he suggested. "It feels very much like an end of an era, in some ways to me. Because some of these ideas, like pretty harp melodies and drum loops and bits of noise and all this stuff — I've done so much of it. I've really explored these ideas loads and loads and loads, so I just want to do a few of them in the most interesting and elegant way I can, and say a final moment on these ideas for now."
Hear the discussion in the podcast episode below. Three appeared on Exclaim!'s list of the best albums of 2024 so far.