Autechre - Oversteps

For someone unacquainted with Autechre’s work, a quick delve into any of their 10 studio albums is a confounding and exhausting experience, regardless of where you start. Displaying an admirable sense of ambivalence towards categorising their music within established genres, Sean Booth and Rob Brown have traversed the length and breadth of electronic music whilst still retaining a relatively dissonant yet rhythmic sound. From propulsive techno throbs (Incunbula) to introspective ambient soundscapes (Amber), the elusive Mancunians love to keep their fans guessing. Perhaps the album that is most representative of their all-encompassing sound is 2008’s Quaristice, an album widely hailed as return to form following the intimidating and at times mechanical production that characterised the main body of their career.

Oversteps continues that successful formula, and possibly singles itself out as the most accessible of Autechre’s albums. This may sound unappealing to some who hold Autechre in high esteem for their sheer experimentalism, but thankfully none of their avant-garde sensibilities are lost amongst the melee, with melodious arrangements and off-kilter percussion augmenting the more discordant parts of their music.

Opening in the album in total silence, ‘R Ess’ atmospherically drifts into life with a cold, apocalyptic tones harnessing Autechre’s penchant for enveloping the listener in their shadowy world. A skittering beat enters, setting the tone for a wildly diverse collage of songs.

Above all, Oversteps is an inherently textural album, with layers of synths and surprisingly moving notes forming the core enjoyment of the record. The true triumphs come in shape of the more contemplative tracks ‘Known (1)’, ‘See On See’ and ‘pt2ph8’. Devoid of any discernable rhythms, they are instead left to stew in their own beauty. Of course, Overstepshas its more orthodox moments, with Booth and Brown’s love for hip-hop shining through on ‘Treale’, a track that could quite easily be slotted into any one of their previous efforts.

More than anything, a major part of Autechre’s appeal is their ability to extract emotion and human feeling from their equally abstract sound, a feat that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Despite its perceived accessibility, Oversteps still stands boldly as an album that requires your time to release the endless sheets of detail that reside within its 71 minutes. It presents itself as both an ideal starting point for newcomers and as one of the highlights in an increasingly impressive back catalogue.

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