NEW ALBUMS
PORTICO QUARTET
Terrain
Sixth album from London-based instrumental ensemble
GONDWANA
7/10
After experimenting with guest vocalists and techno beats, lockdown forced Portico’s Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie into a more minimalist approach. The influence of Terry Riley and Steve Reich, Japanese composer Midori Takada, Jan Garbarek’s New Age sonic sculptures and a glacial touch of Sigur Rós are all evident in a three-part suite in which hypnotically repeated steelpan-style patterns played on the hang unfold slowly as saxophone, piano and synth strings add texture to the ambience. The “terrain” explored is both external and internal, tranquil and troubling.