Ellen Allien continues to tiptoe around Greatness on her fourth solo album, the just-released Sool. In this album, all obvious melodies and humanity have distanced themselves, or become buried in amongst the percussion, reverb and techno space of Chiaroscuro minimalism. If you wish: Plastikman without those wavering Devil Fish 303s. Or Robert Hood without those evolving melodies born from overlapping micro-sequences.

Caress uses its vocalised titles both as a percussive element and as a nod towards that missing warmth. But as the track evolves, additional rhythmic elements – tuned to contrast each other – fill that gap, eventually revealed to be merely subservient to a noisy omnipresent pad which finally sparkles in this darkness.

Ellen Allien: Sool – iTunes UK
Ellen Allien – Official Website