Mazes - Ores & Minerals

Mazes' 2013 LP is a sprawling eccentric opus, self-produced by the band this summer in various makeshift Hackney, UK studios. The album draws from a much broader palette than the band's debut, utilizing repetitive loops and samples, playing up a rhythm section that could walk into any recording session by the Fall and feel comfortable, honing an expansive loose guitar sound and all the while retaining that unmistakable knack with melody. It's a really exciting and refreshingly original record. Of the album, the band's Jack Cooper says, 'We set about trying to make a record that was far more original and broader than the first one... a representation of all the things that inspired US rather than a small portion. We began writing with US in mind... playing to our strengths. 'Bodies' was the first song... like most of the album written to repetitive loops and drones. The demo had an Arthur Russell drum loop because it sounded how Neil drums so I guess that's where we were at. Without saying 'there's always been a dance element to our music,' I think we wanted to write songs that people might be able to move to if the mood was to take them, and there's something incredibly satisfying in repetition.' We tend to think there's something satisfying in playing Ores & Minerals over and over as well. Each new approach opens up more layers of motorik rhythms and Verlaine-veined guitars that permeate the album. It's a more refined vision of Mazes' sound, just as buoyant as their last, but honed into a taught exploration of their musical passions that comes through on every level.