Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers

Andy Stott

Faith in Strangers

17 November 2014

Modern Love

 

5 stars out of 5

 

 

Manchester’s Andy Stott has kept away from the darkness for his last couple of albums, including 2012’s breakthrough Luxury Problems. On Faith in Strangers, all of the darkness he’d been avoiding has finally caught up with him, and then some. And the result is his best work by far. Already having a great year (see Drop the Vowels, a thoroughly enjoyable romp through dark ‘90s electronica released in March by Millie & Andrea, the alter-egos of Stott and Miles Whittaker), Stott has now released his magnum opus: be it known that Faith in Strangers, his third proper LP, is insanely good.

 

“Violence,” featuring vocals by Stott’s former piano teacher Alison Skidmore, gets my vote for Song of the Year (Hundred Waters’ “Cavity” drops down to #2). Beginning as a thoroughly disorienting neo-classical piece with a tinge of goth, this monster of a track transforms into a nightmare of industrial angst that makes Nine Inch Nails seem like indie pop. “Violence” is worth the price of admission alone, but the rest of the record isn’t exactly filler. “On Oath” is a fantastic apocalyptic walk through a burned-out city, an ambient song that pokes and prods you while remaining ambient. “Science & Industry” skitters and skips through an inventory of sounds that resides somewhere between Kraftwerk and Cabaret Voltaire. Throughout these tracks, the listener is subjected to an unsettling assault by Skidmore’s vocals. She ain’t no diva; she’s more like an alien telepath who can get right inside your head with her other-worldly, tortured ghost of a voice. In short, Faith in Strangers is fucking winning. Stott’s compositional confidence is at an all-time high, and the world of electronic music is greatly enhanced by it.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger