Whorl

At this point, SMD aren’t exactly underrated—their 2012 LP Unpatterns was a just-okay collision of their techno and electro tendencies—but their longevity has perhaps gone underappreciated. Their latest is light on bangers and more focused on texture.

Recorded livein the Mojave desert, James Ford and Jas Shaw turn their attention away from filling floors and instead focus on giving you an "experience".

The making of Whorl was such a break from Simian Mobile Disco's previous methods that James Ford and Jas Shaw considered releasing the album under a different name.

Opening with two lush, beatless atmospheric tracks, Whorl feels like a very different incarnation of Simian Mobile Disco from the outset. Abandoning computers entirely, and recording huge swathes of the album in live performances beneath the Californian desert sky, they have discovered an entirely new sound

Last April, Simian Mobile Disco travelled to the California desert, willing themselves into creating an album like they've never made before.

Simian Mobile Disco has always walked a line between the strict rules of straight-up dance music and the free, experimental nature of underground rock.

Electronic duo take us on a spaced out - but dynamic - analogue adventure. Review by Thomas H Green.