Bleep

Loraine James has made a name for herself in the past few years as a standout producer in multiple spheres, from exciting varieties of electronica and club strains to Bleep’s top album of 2022 with her ambient-minded project Whatever The Weather. Her previous album for Hyperdub, Reflection, explored lockdown introspection. Now, it’s time to get even more personal. Gentle Confrontation broaches the hard subjects with grace, not only in its sonic symbolism of rough, corrugated beats meeting light balloons of chords and melody, but also in James’s own vocals taking the centre stage.

Bold, solemn string arrangements open the album with grand emotion, like tall waves lurching over a ship, broken by the machine gun rhythms of frothy, choppy beats. James’s glitchy mission statement introduces the achingly diaristic lyrics she dwells on with the candidness of a friend you’ve met down the pub: “I don’t see them that often,” she says on ‘Cards With The Grandparents’, “I think they think that I’d forgotten.” The literal shuffles of cards click, snap, and fold, with her hesitation of “I will come up… soon,” over bittersweet, sighing vocal lyrics, and a heavy kick strutting through.

The album’s many collaborators dive deep into their feelings too. Ritchie With A T calmly rides through a storm of static stutters on ‘Déjà Vu’, Eden Samara’s waterfall of feathery vocals on ‘Try For Me’ find determination and drive, and George Riley is scathing with smooth, soulful delivery on ‘Speechless’. All of this intensifies with James expertly matching sound to mood: she raps unapologetically on ‘Tired Of Me’ over bitcrushed beats tearing up the earth, while glacial synths hum beneath shards of shredded, frostbitten rhythms on ‘I’m Trying To Love Myself’.

Gentle Confrontation is an expansive and expressive update from Loraine James, whose constant refinement of her sound has made her a leading figure in today’s electronic landscape.