ART-ROCK
Chris Roberts samples the new releases on the prog/rock boundary.
There’s a subtlety to Modern Nature, which perhaps explains why they’ve not yet made a big breakout splash, but as their fourth album, The Heat Warps (Bella Union), confirms, they’re slowly but surely growing into one of our most reliably interesting bands. Inspired by sources as diverse as Can and Television’s early demos with Eno, they’ve brought in a second guitarist and use that instrument cleverly and clinically. Opening track Pharaoh epitomises what’s compelling about their sound: understated yet soulful, broody yet building big spaces. A trace of Talk Talk’s counterintuitive magic flickers. They’ll never shout for attention, but giving it is richly rewarded.