Beacon – Escapements

Having garnered plaudits for the spacey electronics and sweet vocal mix of 2013’s The Way We Separate, Brooklyn duo Beacon return with a more complex take on their RnB and Warp obsessions, but one which is no less captivating. The album’s title refers to timekeeping regulators in clocks, and the fascination with inexorable decay is evident in songs like Running Out and Preserve.

Musically, Thomas Mullarney III’s sighing vocals float over dense rhythms and deep bass, taking their cue from the icy atmospherics of James Blake as much as the narcotic ennui of The Weeknd. Better and Worse drives forward with a soft dance pulse, while Still’s skittery build up gives way to lush melodic relief as and when it feels like it. It’s a creative licence found across the album; the sense of a band exploring their sound with a freedom that comes from not knowing the destination. A late night journey of the highest order.