Crack

16/20

This follow-up to the Aussie trio’s 2008 debut The Sound of Trees Falling on People has finally been giving its UK release having bewitched their Antipodean kinfolk since earlier this year, and it’s a confident effort. Embracing electronica, ambience, post- rock, post-dubstep (shudder), hip-hop and more, an impeccable grasp of dynamics permeates the entire work.

Songs often build around gradually developing structures, minimalistic in approach – not minimalistic in terms of restrictive sound, far from it, but in the sense of allowing ideas to ebb and flow in isolation from one another. The way in which each song is worked into life feels entirely collaborative, and the sense of progression and dynamics (that word again) very much gives Seekae a band feel; that of individuals working off each other with an intuitive connection to an almost jam-like effect. The album's diversity, meanwhile, which includes a string interlude which hints at the band’s classical background, a soft acoustic closer, and a retro 8-bit stomp somewhere between, keeps the listener on their toes without ever seeming disparate. +Dome is an seriously assured second record, and one which makes the prospect of Seekae live an extremely enticing one.

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Words: Geraint Davies