To You In Alpha

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Back around '96, isolationist electronicists Seefeel were a hot act to follow, with two albums - Too Pure's Quique and Warp's Succour - suggesting a wealth of dark atmospherics to come. Sadly though, the group disbanded shortly afterwards. Two groups of significance have formed from the group's ashes: Mark Van Hoen's Locust and Daren Seymour and Sarah Peacock's Scala, a very different beast indeed. To You In Alpha is effectively Scala's "proper" debut, though an album of the band's demos appeared on Michael Harding's post-industrial/experimental label Touch sometime last year. Well, produced by Spiritualized and Spring Heel Jack producer Mads Bjerker, TYIA is an extraordinarily accomplished pop record. Dark, of course, and with guitarist Simon McLean along for the ride, often rather noisy, but pop nonetheless. The songs are pretty willfully eclectic, and recall, between them, Morcheeba, Massive, Tricky, Lamb and - to these ears in particular - Laika, but such comparisons hardly do Scala justice, as they are very definitely their own people. Peacock's voice is a joy - incongruously both malevolent and beautiful - and its settings are finely crafted throughout. This deserves very wide recognition indeed.