Anders Trentemøller’s brand of electronica has brushed shoulders with many of its sub-genres since his debut, ‘The Last Resort’, dropped a decade ago. That record - his first in his current guise – was propelled to the top reaches of many critics’ end of year lists and gained favourable comparisons to fellow Scandinavians Röyksopp (whom he has since remixed) and the hugely influential Brazilian producer Amon Tobin. It was a dark affair, focusing primarily on dub electronica with a pinch of lighter, ambient techno thrown in for good measure.
Ten years and three studio albums later, it remains impossible to pin him down. ‘Into the Great Wide Yonder’, released in 2010, largely eschewed the bleak soundscapes of his debut and introduced a more analogue feel to proceedings, as illustrated at his full-band live shows. Its follow up, 2013’s ‘Lost’, was equally successful in performing another musical side-step, confounding and bewildering critics and fans alike with its more industrial-sounding setup.
‘Fixion’, if it’s possible, has managed to amalgamate elements of Trentemøller’s previous outings while attempting to make the differing styles flow as one.
Of the opening salvo of tracks, both Sinus and Phoenicia take us back to the early days with the unrelenting, deep instrumentals that were prevalent on ‘The Last Resort’.
But these songs are interwoven with more upbeat, vocal-led cuts. River in Me, which is fronted by Savages’ Jehnny Beth, for example, wouldn’t sound out of place on Ultravox’s ‘Vienna’.
The production of the record in some places certainly harks back to the ‘80s, with a brew of heavily-reverberating drum sounds and ethereal vocals making it akin to Tears for Fears crossed with Cocteau Twins. But then that’s what Trentemøller has seemingly been angling for since day one: a record that can be listened to from start to finish, but with a few challenges to overcome along the way.
The more accessible tracks, such as Redefine and Complicated (another to feature Jehnny Beth), share space with others that are more testing, which makes it a bumpy ride at times. But persistence is rewarded and, after a few listens, ‘Fixion’ begins to move more smoothly than at first. It’s may not be the modern classic that his debut remains, but Trentemøller is still capable of pushing the electronic envelope.
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