Artists who switch mid-career to an entirely different genre from the one in which they established their reputation are generally regarded, frequently with some justification, as opportunists and charlatans. Thankfully, Vessels look likely to escape that ignominious fate. The Leeds quintet have spent the best part of the past decade crafting abstruse post-rock and math-rock in the manner of Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky. However their imminent third album, Dilate, sees them entirely eschew fretboards and plectrums in favour of the thrum of ambient, downtempo electronica.
This change of emphasis is evident live as two drummers sit stage-front with two electronics wizards behind them, and a solitary guitarist lurks in the shadows to the side of the stage like an afterthought. Nevertheless, as the evening unfolds it is evident that Vessels may have shifted their musical focus but they have remained true to their forensic, fastidious creative process.
Their new sound is a warm, immersive strain of ethereal electro whose intricate layers and aggregations coalesce hypnotically. Tracks build from sparse beginnings to become multi-faceted powerhouses. Elliptic may be slow-build headphones music, but it works beautifully as a communal experience, while the febrile polyrhythms of Attica unfold around a quaintly retro-futurist synth figure that is not a million miles from what the much-maligned Jean Michel Jarre was doing 40 years ago.
Vessels’ closest contemporary kindred spirit is probably Caribou, who is currently transferring his own introspective techno into venues the size of the 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy. On this captivating form, it would be no surprise were Vessels to follow suit in the not-too-distant future.
• March 14: Start the Bus, Bristol. Box office: 0117-930 4370. Then touring.
