Bleep

British singer-songwriter Jono McCleery returns with his third studio album. Following 2011’s There Is on Ninja Tune’s Counter Records, Pagodes marks the launch of If Music, another Ninja Tune affiliated venture, respectively the label offshoot of the eponymous record shop based in Soho, London. The Rotterdam-based artist continues to draw from a wide range of influences, combining electronic elements with acoustic instruments, and fluctuating between bare moments and grand finales. Layering melancholic piano and expressive string gestures over deep kicks and metallic rimshots, ‘Halfway’ illustrates how his passionately sung melodies unfold in unexpected ways. ‘So Long’ serves as another convincing example of those talents — his soulful vocals reverberate over xylophones and texturally rich saxophones before the instrumentals thicken to an intense crescendo.