Harry Charles: Movement (Loop/digital outlets)

Although he left New Zealand more than a decade ago and his really formative musical influences and growth came in Berlin, we can still claim Harry Charles as our own.

And be proud to so because, as he proves on this second album he is a quiet master craftsman in the world of electronic music who effortlessly manages to blend soaring or gentle melodic elements with beats and ambient atmospherics.

After a short introduction with acoustic guitar on Wandering Water this album takes off with the cinematic, downtempo Titans (2^nd Movement).

The human seduction of acoustic guitars appear again on the melancholy vocal ballad Hold the Wood.

And so it goes, bringing diverse elements into the same sonic space: the midnight atmospherics of the gently rolling Rise; rap from Senzu on the broody Smoke & Dust; the edgy urbanism of the tough-minded B through to the almost pastoral folktronica of The Abundant Garden right at the end.

With a pitstop for dancefloor nights (the slightly droning The Lightness Inside), Movement covers a lot of diverse but integrated sounds, an album of the old style where difference and changes of direction were welcomed.

If words like electronica and synths have been off-putting, put aside any prejudging and be open to the possibilities of this album.

It would be a hard heart that didn't find much to embrace and enjoy.

.

You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here.