Sultry, laid back tunes.
This reissue of Cirkus’ first album features two CDs; CD 1 is a minimal affair, laid back electronica with a dub vibe, samples, loops and featuring Neneh Cherry’s husky, silky voice on some of the vocal tracks. CD 2 is unusually and interestingly the same album - yes, all the same tracks again but remixed, apparently as the press release says - the same songs “revisited from a totally different perspective” and what you get is deeper and darker, with more dance beats, more instruments, more depth and the occasional heavy moment. The cracking opening track ‘Laylow’ turns from a smooth, dreamy and moody tune with dub echoes on CD 1 into one with a danceable beat and a rough scratchy guitar section on CD 2- it’s too addictive for words.
It would be easy to dismiss either disc as a pointless extravagance however, they are so dramatically different in approach and there are so many extra touches that they are really not the same record and so of course they are good for two different listening states of mind. The guitar skits and darker tone of the loops and samples of the second disc make for something much more spacey; this is definitely a night time record, where as the quieter, more minimal CD 1 is good for gentle afternoons.
The tunes on “Laylow” and “Laylower” are soulful, catchy and distinctive, like the sultry, quirky and dark melodies of ‘Is what it is what it is’ and ‘Fuc all the Doh’ on which their sound is reminiscent of the experimental, atmospherics of Massive Attack and Tricky but throughout the record a reliance on ‘real instruments’ like acoustic and electric guitar also means that comparisons to Portishead are apt. Overall, an inspiring record of great tunes that should smash down those pesky genre boundaries amongst listeners.