Seefeel - Succour '1995/2019

Tracks list

Tracklist:

[5:52] 01. Seefeel - Meol
[7:29] 02. Seefeel - Extract
[6:04] 03. Seefeel - When Face Was Face
[5:53] 04. Seefeel - Fracture
[6:00] 05. Seefeel - Gatha
[6:09] 06. Seefeel - Ruby-Ha
[6:30] 07. Seefeel - Rupt
[4:26] 08. Seefeel - Vex
[5:40] 09. Seefeel - Cut
[7:52] 10. Seefeel - Utreat

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AllMusic Review by Glenn Swan
There are those typically Seefeel-ish moments in Succour -- the looping of
heavily treated sounds, vocals, keyboards, and guitar feedback that either
transcend the clichés of electronica or wish it had a little more of it.
Admittedly, Mark Clifford, Darren Seymour, Sarah Peacock, and Justin Fletcher do
not want to be Moby or Underworld or anyone like that -- their guitar roots
pointed them toward moody ambience and experimentation rather than the dance
clubs. To this end they have become a respectable oddity -- prog-rock disguised
as ambient psuedo-trance. By the time we reach them at this album, there are a
couple rough spots, as they were supposedly having band problems at the time.
Tracks like Extract repeat its key phrase tiredly for up to seven minutes, and
frequently Clifford and Fletcher run to their signature tin-can drum samples and
ambient clang of pipes in an attempt to keep other tracks afloat (like the
somewhat unsurprising Rupt and Cut). Even more percussively obnoxious is Vex (a
perfect title, under the circumstances), but its the first time that listeners
might recognize Seymours bass amongst all the heavy treatments (and thats near
the end of the album). What redeems Succour is a half-dozen other tracks, like
the edgy polyrhythms and watery ambience of When Face Was Face, replete with
steady clangs and layered vocal lilts, making the whole production like a
Javanese gamelan in space. Fracture follows next, a stark anthem with almost
atypical and crunchy drums like a duet of rusted gasoline barrels, surrounded by
guitar feedback and echoing vocals. Ruby-Ha, though about as repetitive as
Extract, manages a little variation with the tattered ribbons of Peacocks voice
(without whom neither the track nor the album would fare as well), sort of like
a nursery-school lullaby long forgotten, played back on a pocket TV. Gatha comes
off like a track from MAIN, with its needling guitar ripples, industrial static,
and cavernous growls, though a bit heavy-handed on the bass drum (Indian tribes
come to mind). Without the drum, perhaps there would be a taste of something
rather refreshing in its minimalism. Cut has all the trappings of the weaker
songs, but fares better because of the dubby bassline and somewhat more soulful
rhythm track. Utreat closes out the disc beautifully, with a minimal
call-and-response loop between electric piano and bass, peppered with next-door
vocals and keyboard vapors. This track alone makes up for a third of the albums
shortcomings. Overall, this is perhaps the bleakest album from Seefeel (their
final for Warp records), but few do it as well.

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