Fresh from the release earlier this year of his compilation of lambent, analogous ambient and atmospheric music for the esteemed Late Night Tales compilation series, Floating Points first album in four years, Crush, twists whatever you think you know about him on its head again. A tempestuous blast of electronic experimentalism whose title alludes to the pressure-cooker of the current environment we find ourselves in. As a result, Shepherd has made some of his heaviest, most propulsive tracks yet, nodding to the UK bass scene he emerged from in the late 2000s, such as the dystopian low-end bounce of previously shared striking lead single LesAlpx (Pitchforks Best New Track), but there are also some of his most expressive songs on Crush: his signature melancholia is there in the albums sublime mellower moments or in the Buchla synthesizer, whose eerie modulation haunts the album.
His new album feels similarly instantaneous – and vital. Its the sound of the many sides of Floating Points finally fusing together. It draws from the "explosive" moments during his sets, the moments that usually occur when he throws together unexpected genres, for the very simple reason that he gets excited about wanting to "hear this record, really loud, now!" and then puts the needle on. Its "just like what happens when you are at home playing music with your friends and it's going all over the place," he says.