Fin

First album from Barcelona's much-heralded top producer John Talabot. If there is one person who has been causing a stir on the international club circuit recently, it is Talabot. His debut My Old School on Permanent Vacation in 2009 and the single Sunshine, which he put out on his own Hivern Disc imprint, made him one of the most promising musicians of the Spanish electronic scene. And those two releases also already set the mark for John Talabot's unparalleled music: raw, loopy, heavy on the kick drum, sample-based, moderate on the tempo, distorted on the drums and light years away from the clean and ever revolving house sound of today. This unique style, which also blends influences from Afro beat, Detroit techno, Chicago house and cosmic disco, but also northern soul or the energy of flamenco, immediately turned some heads around. James Murphy, Âme and Aeroplane started including Talabot music in their sets like it was the most natural thing.

While staying true to his sound, John Talabot has nevertheless shown a constant evolution as a producer since his first release. He has traced a solid musical path that has turned him into one of the big references of European house and has made him also a highly in-demand remixer. This progression now crystallizes in Fin, his first full-length album for Permanent Vacation. A record in which the Barcelona mastermind sets aside danceable immediacy to expand his stylistic palette more than ever. For that purpose, Talabot melts all the elements that have constructed his distinctive sound until now and makes them emerge from a new perspective in which the construction of complex song structures, intricate rhythms and super-positions of ever-evolving melodies and atmospheres pick up the baton of the "a kick-drum and a sampler" philosophy of his initial productions. The result brings us 11 tracks dominated by dark ambiances, gaseous textures and bittersweet moods that, above all, reveal a kind of vivacity that's really hard to find in contemporary electronics. Fin is far from being a track collection. From the majestic opener "Depak Ine" to its solemn ending with "So Will Be Now," one of the two tracks that features Talabot's soul- and label- mate Pional, each song traces an overall dialogue with the rest, culminating in a highly emotional journey through Talabot's always compelling and unique musical vision.