Floating Points

Sam Shepherd unleashes a late contender for album of the year with new album Crush, showcasing his ever-evolving brand of modular alchemy and shapeshifting. Hamish Mackintosh visits the nerve centre

- Hamish Mackintosh

The electronic music scene can be a curious mix of innovators, chancers and copyists, with the occasional genuine maverick. Sam Shepherd’s Floating Points most definitely falls into the mavericks camp.

Never one to tread water, his 2015 debut album, Elaenia, took the promise of his earlier EPs (Vacuum and Shadows) both released on his own Eglo imprint and blazed a trail further into the outer reaches of electronic sound, which helped cement Floating Points reputation both in the studio and on the live stage.

Sublime new album, Crush, really is another quantum leap forwards for Floating Points. From the jittery synths and strings of opening track Falaise, Shepherd takes us on an immersive sonic journey through the full capabilities of his musicianship and his armoury of desirable synths and drum machines. Crush is an intense but beautiful trip forged over five weeks in Shepherd’s subterranean Aladdin’s cave studio of flickering modulars and choice vintage gear.

FM eagerly went to London’s easterly parts to visit Shepherd in his electronic bunker (where his studio experiments/solderings are ably assisted by studio manager, Tim) to find out more about Crush and to catch the wave of Shepherd’s enthusiasm for all things Buchla, along with his desire to find a more expressive way of playing machines. Where to begin, really?

Reading the press release for Crush, it would appear we have Coachella to thank for the wonderful new direction of the album?