For some reason I seem to think every new record by Danish composer Mads Emil Nielsen is connected to the previous one, but that’s just an impression – he does like to work in series, but not always. The 10-incher Heartbeats (ARBITRARY 21) is a collaboration / remix thing with Chromacolor, and might be the second in a series that includes 2022’s record Constellation.
The A-side was composed for a radio soundtrack and it’s made from rejigged synth tones, underpinned with quite a nice dubby bass effect wandering around like a disaffected inflated balloon. If you were expecting a medically-correct impression of the workings of the human heart, then Ben Casey wouldn’t approve of the irregular patterns exhibited here, but he might send the x-rays over to an intern for signoff. The B-side is a remix – is that still a thing in 2025? – by Hanno Leichtman alias Chromacolor. As he did previously, he can’t resist the temptation to add extra instruments – keyboards, guitars, plus cello strokes from Anthea Caddy and vocals from Annie Garlid, all of which builds a confection to take us down a completely different route. Chromacolor finds opportunities for micro-riffs and suggested musical themes which are barely discernable in the original skeletal framework, but perhaps that’s the value of collaborating. Pleasant and accessible. (23/09/2024)