Preceded by two singles by way of appetizers, here eventually comes Kotelett and Esther Silex’ debut long-player as Almost Falling, ‘Roots’. Having both enjoyed fruitful careers on their own, dispensing their wide-ranging musical savoir-faire via the likes of Poker Flat, Upon You or Exploited for Kotelett, through LIKE Records and Studio Barnhus for Silex, their exciting studio collab came at a perfect time to recalibrate and put things into perspective, both musically and at a human level. Conceived and honed during the first Corona lockdown, ‘Roots’ addresses “our roots, our source, our raw feelings” as the duo confesses, hoping the fourteen-track package on offer here will push their listeners “to follow their heart and intuition” in times of doubt and reassessment.

Traversed by reflections on the difficulties of our time and age, both at an individual and societal scale, Almost Falling’s debut album casts its net far and wide, dextrously running the gamut from proto-techno to breaks, via swashes of electronica-infused pop, spoken word and further genre-unbound detours. If ‘Trace Your Steps’ highlights Almost Falling’s unique approach and vibrant mix of society-questioning lines and straight out fire rhythms built for the dance floor, ‘Ameca’ engineers a mix of cold-as-truth spoken word, fragmented pop motifs and cold wavey riffs that’ll etch deep in your memory. A contrasting tale of digital / IRL ambiguity, ‘Rain’ has us dipping toes in cinematic grounds thanks to its haunting strings, whilst incisive trap patterns and a wailing bass chops it all up post-modern style.

‘Mountains of Madness’ blends in a minimalistic tang of pop sensuality with that of low-slung, pensive electronics to exquisite effect, whereas the bass-supported flavour of ‘I Don’t Feel It’ leaves us numb with hedonistic languor, even though its chiseled drumwork stings like a bee. Silex’ timbre is a healing siren call, oozing sensuality but also the trigger to deeper emotional upheaval – a captivating sense of equivocation which reveals in all its glory on the Janus-faced ‘Suck It Up’. Transporting the “energy of the dance floor, the honoring of our club-culture roots and our free-spirited up-bringing right into your living room” as Esther and Heiko put it, ‘Solitary Soldier’ evokes bleached-out nostalgia and ektachromatic summers spent lounging by the poolside, sun-streaked faces and laughing echoes interlaced.

Tapping in a slower paced repertoire, ‘2020’ translates the off-kilter, ambivalent essence of lockdown life into a trip-hop-informed ethereal pop number that alternates conflicting movements, from wistful uplift to an irresistible urge to rev up and dash forward. On the transporting ‘Ocean Call’, hints of the Prophet 12’s ample harmonic spectrum collide with a bass-driven, aqueous groove, Sino-flavoured arps cascading like metal darts from above. Almost Falling gone full club-mode exotica. The album’s final moments give in to slo-mo introspectiveness on the luminescent, post-Cabaret ballad, ‘Dirt’, whereas album closer ‘Shivers’ elegantly steers us into mesmeric cinematic territories with its peaceful jazz piano chords and distorted stabs giving a subtle, yet deeply moving kiss of life to this poignant finale.

released July 14, 2023

Catalogue number: SVT333