Words by Justin Turford
The Nottingham born / London-based musician-producer Son Of Philip (aka Tom Smith) has been on our radar since day one. Local to us and a talented affiliate of the Wigflex crew, his initial wonky and weighty 2-Step releases pumped with fresh gas. Pushing his music out since 2021, he has had several releases on Wigflex, Fever AM and his own Bliss Print label, showcasing a broad take on electronic sounds, capable of pure dancefloor heat or more esoteric ambient textures.
Here on ‘Plastic Borough’, his new seven track E.P. for Nottingham label Running Circle Records, Tom has delivered an emotive selection of unhurried and hypnotic ambient compositions that sway between the beautifully maudlin and the nearly unsettling. His obvious love for and gift with synthesis combined with an intelligent musicality, makes this a record to dwell in, not just passively listen to.
“It’s somewhere between broken and beautiful. Between organic and synthetic. A beautiful struggle in some ways. Recorded mostly in my studio in Nottingham that I shared with Lukas Wigflex at the time. The album is a collection of music created without any real direction - just writing what was coming to me during the process, whilst not really thinking about it too much. Which I guess makes it a true reflection of all my influences and music I’ve listened to over the years. I love getting lost in in repetitive synth loops and finding ways to keep things interesting" - Son Of Philip
Echoes of the history of electronic music haunt the music here - Plaid, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, early 80s dark synth-pop, Burial, Zimmer even - and each piece embraces a noirish sense of space and scale that invites the listener to add their own interpretation. Four of the compositions are instrumental but the three songs in collaboration with the Swedish singer Ylva Grönlund lend a powerful and ancient sounding female energy to their shared creations.
“I heard Ylva Grönlund’s voice when we managed to persuade her to sing at a small gathering with friends and fell in love with her voice, so sent some recording equipment to Sweden for Ylva to record some vocal parts.”
The instantly attractive lead single ‘Infinity’ features the spectral wordless voice of Ylva, though only as an occasional reminder that humans are present. The track’s drawn out arpeggiated groove is the star here, the vibe reminiscent of a minimalist Vangelis, the motorik rhythmic pulse and retro synths shadowed by Neu! and Can. Yet it sounds fresh and alive, of now and of then.
The brooding ‘En Marsh’ is another that features the Swedish singer, its widescreen grandeur a darkly lit dream, Ylva riding the abstracted bulges and transients with gothic majesty. I’ve mentioned Vangelis and Zimmer previously, and its that pervasive ‘Blade Runner’ vibration that I’m picking up I suspect. Sepia-toned future-retro, post-club doom - the ghost in the machine.
The subtly anthemic title track ‘Plastic Borough’ sees the addition of Matthew Farrell on the mediaeval viola da gamba, the soaring strings in a swan’s dance with the gentle backwards loop that is the track’s foundation.
The early Warp Records sounding ‘Messom’ pulses and gently tiptoes along with electronic raindrops and distant drones. A forest of machine animals talking to each other with no apex predators in sight or sound to startle the atmosphere. Lovely stuff.
‘Dulwich Architect’ is an on-the-surface simple industrial loop that distresses and dubs itself into liquid. It’s hard to tell whether this benign or malignant.
The Detroit-flavoured ‘Dream Rebellion’ is a banger without the bang. Drexciya-esque keys and squally high synths promise a rave but at the last minute, switches off its phone and goes home to bed. I’d love to hear this one stretch out even further!
Leaving the first till last, ‘One More Snus’ once again has Ylva on microphone duties. Only two minutes long, there is a similar energy to ‘Dream Rebellion’ in that the song seems poised to viscerally transform but again, it crumbles into static and vapourised cities. Brilliantly infuriating.
‘Plastic Borough’ is a supreme E.P. of vapour trails and human-machine interconnectivity. Emotional, mysterious, recognisable yet surprising. 9/10
BUY HERE! https://sonofphilip.bandcamp.com/album/plastic-borough