When playing with Fridge – the Output-signed band whose other prominent member is Kieran ‘Four Tet’ Hebden - Adem Ilhan’s voice was never utilised. Apparently it was only in 2002 that Ilhan even started to sing. This is good news for the rest of us – because the result is this beguiling and magical record.
Unfashionably as it might sound, "Homesongs" is essentially a folk record – albeit one recorded on computers. Yet through sheer quality of songwriting and arrangement, it skilfully navigates a third way through this oft-derided genre and easily avoids both the worthy (woolly beards) and the insane 'The Wicker Man'. The results breathe that same rarefied air as Nick Drake or Vashti Bunyan.
But while Adem’s heroes alluded to beauty in the natural world, "Homesongs" carries the sensations of a city at midnight. Recorded in the hush of afterhours at his London flat, this would also be the ideal scenario: slip it on the stereo – alone at 3am - lights off - while snow falls silently outside. Revolving around organic textures and ‘real’ emotions the possibilities of electrical disturbance remain.
There is a taut fragility to this music. Woven guitar patterns are adorned with harmoniums, bells and ancient xylophones. Intimate fingers scratching strings are as aesthetically vital as the sound of strings themselves. When the volume rises above a whisper, like it does on the chorus of "Cut" or the “everybody needs some help
sometimes” refrain on "These Are Your Friends" the results are startling. The likes of "Pillow" and "There Will Always Be" are warm and cocoon-like - the missing link between Talk Talk and Bjork's "Vespertine". In "Everything You Need" he could even have a hit.
Along with Joy Zipper, Kanye West and Sufian Stevens this is another classic album for 2004. Like a warming welcome home, the simple candle burns brighter that a thousand suns.
by Adem Webb