Album Review: Porcelain Raft, "Strange Weekend"

Originally composing music for short films and video artists, ex-Sunny Day Sets Fire co-founder and Filthy Duke contributor Mauro Remiddi's solo incarnation as London-based Porcelain Raft awards us with pristine production and an uncanny aptitude for drawing from a diverse range of stylistic wells. We've had a hard time moving past the addictive, synth droning opener, "Drifting In And Out," which sees Remiddi working with ease through spacious, atmospheric production that pairs the best of post-rock grandiosity with a heartbeat stuttered, drum machine backbeat, etherial vocals, and gauzy, melodic guitar riffs. "Shapeless & Gone," the albums second track, perches Remiddi's echoed, distant vocals atop muffled, bubbling drums and high-hat repeats, but the inclusion of a clean strummed acoustic guitar and airy electric hooks creates an unexpected cohesion that perhaps belies the track's title. "I've never seen the desert before, I've never been so close to nothing" Remiddi admits as the song transitions from a synthy keyboard breakdown into its grand finale.

One of the best aspects of this record is its ability to hop from one style to another while maintaining a singular mood and distinct atmosphere. This is due in big part to the consistently echoed, etherial vocal style and synthetic textures that flesh out the bare-bones genre jumping of Remiddi's songwriting and production. With its heavy and chopped dub-bass, ominous shimmer, and monstrous electronic claps, "Is It Too Deep For You" might sound like just another take on dubstep, but Remiddi's addition of bright tambourine and fingerpicked acoustic guitar adds an airy lightness that contrasts beautifully to its dark mood. The song's evolution is remarkably elegant and complex given its basic components, and as the acoustic guitar is introduced a minute or so in, it is reminiscent of "The Softest Voice" off Animal Collective's brilliant Sung Tongs.

Upon first listen, "Unless You Speak From Your Heart" sounds initially like a remix of Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks", but it evolves into a woozy croon with big electric guitar and wobbly synth, eventually collapsing under its own weight as it fades gracefully towards silence. "Picture," the album's second-to-last song, sounds similar to  Bradford Cox's production on Halcyon Digest's opening track, "Earthquake." Beginning with the same spacious, crunchy bass as "Earthquake," the song quickly introduces sunny acoustic guitar and some of the album's least buried, echoed vocals. Breathy harmonies and a subtle wash of synth add a texture to the song without taking away from its lightness.

Normally we'd be worried that an album of this caliber would fall out of the collective consciousness by the time all the year-end lists start dolling out awards, but Remiddi has created something special in Strange Weekend, and it's a stunning debut, particularly as a home-recorded and produced record. While there are certainly standouts, none of the tracks on this album come across as placeholders, making Remiddi's deft navigation of genere all the more impressive and inspiring. You can head over to Porcelain Raft's site and purchase a copy of the album, which came out last week via Secretly Canadian. You can also stream the album in its entirety below: