Sensate Focus – Sensate Focus 10 8.1

                First things first: this is Mark Fell. Nice try trying to fool people but it’s not going to work. I recognize those sounds anywhere. The sheer fact that Mark Fell has such a uniform approach to sound design makes it impossible for it to be anyone else. I figure after Mark Fell’s entire career he decided this might be something of an aberration. Mark Fell’s spent a career flirting with dance. Now he’s finally decided to consummate that desire. We’re rewarded with two stunningly active tracks. Literally everything that SND and Mark Fell’s career has avoided doing is here. This is dance.

                ‘X’ is probably my favorite. I like the multi-section feel of it. This is probably the more straightforward track. Parts of this remind me of SND’s ‘Tender Love’ without the shackles of minimalism. Mark Fell really lets everything go with this one: so many keyboard flourishes, a rather fast pace (not quite the hyper-speeds he’s been exploring lately, but still quite fine nonetheless). Every little section comes together so well. ‘Y’ maintains the dance flavor of the EP as well. On this track, the sounds wobble to and fro, almost there but not quite. The beats feel extremely strong to me. Mark even gets a little playful with the repetition of the word ‘Love’ on the track. 

                I’m happy to hear Mark Fell having so much fun with a project. Normally he goes for a more rigid sound. Thus, hearing him mess around with what he grew up with (loud, sweaty dance music) is a great joy.