Portico Quartet - Isla [Album]

Realworld

October 22, 2009, 11:31 PM

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The recent history of the Portico Quartet almost reads like a fairy story: from busking on London’s South Bank in 2005 to a Mercury Prize nomination three years later for their first album “Knee-Deep In The North Sea.” They may still be in their early 20's yet the Portico Quartet make instrumental chamber music that suggests a depth of experience and an emotional complexity beyond their tender years. As with all good fairy tales there is a darker side, shade as well as light.

Much has been made of how their sound embraces ‘Reich to Radiohead’ and such a span is a handy mental guide to approaching this record rather than classifying it, or worse dismissing it, as simply ‘jazz.' Second album “Isla,” recorded at Abbey Road with John Leckie producing, continues this musical exploration which accommodates the sounds – and the fans – of both artists.

The nine songs on offer here have a sombre but entrancing feel. The opener ‘Paper Scissors Stone’ sets the broad template - insistent looping sax figures over sparse or shuffling drums and double bass. The band - Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (hang and percussion) and Jack Wyllie (soprano and tenor saxophones) – have added loop pedals, electronics and strings arranged by Fitzpatrick. But this doesn’t feel intrusive and the recording retains the warmth and immediacy of having been captured live.

Although nine distinct songs, there is a strong signature sound which remains consistent even if the mood shifts. Therefore most pieces are only subtly differentiated: The quiet minimalist repetitions of ‘Line’ with its long sustained notes like sighing, the tentative shimmers that give way to a punchier urgency on ‘Dawn Patrol’ for instance.

This may be too nuanced for those who prefer wild changes of tempo and style but it certainly creates a distinctive feel and resonance to the chamber jazz of “Isla.”

Fascinating, fresh and soulful mood-music that rewards repeated listening for jaded ears.

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