Portico Quartet
(Real World)
On a travel website called urban75, there is post called A winter Saturday in London, which takes the reader in words and pictures on a walk along The Strand and to Waterloo. One of the pictures shows four musicians busking on the Southbank.
That was in 2006, and six years on they are a world away from that basic double bass, saxophone and percussion format. Since their second album, Isla, and touring that music, the original Portico Quartet had become three – Duncan Bellamy on drums, Milo Fitzpatrick on bass and Jack Wylie on saxophone.
Now they have a new member to complete the Quartet in keyboardist/percussionist Keir Vine, and a much more expanded soundscape, thanks to increased use of electronics by all four players. The resulting recording is their strongest yet, I think, and moves them even further into their own unique musical territory.
From a relatively intimate sound that felt most comfortable on a small area of pavement or in a relatively small club space, they have, like EST before them, cleverly adapted that sound and style to be able to fill big concert halls while at the same time not sacrificing the intimacy and approachability of their music.
The track Lacker Boo is perhaps closer to their older sound or older nature, but even here the added string sounds and increased reverb on the hang give it a new feel. The opener, Window Seat, slides in on washes from a Prophet synth and Steve Reich-like overlapping electronic rhythms, while Ruins has jam band sounding double bass groove with electronic drums and a soprano saxophone melody that suggests a warped, world music version of a Philip Glass riff.
The vital hang sound is still there to give that minimalism meets steel pan feel, but it is used in ever more subtly integrated ways, leading nicely into piano on some tracks, or mixing with high hat and synth wash into a thoroughly English rain-drenched sound picture.
The track Spinner has a really strong pulse, and listening loud or on headphones throws up all manner of interesting textures and details, and it builds to a fairly momentous wave before ebbing back into a more relaxed mood. The delicate vocal added by Cornelia on Sleepless is just right.
In fact, it’s the attention to detail and constant shifting of tones and timbres, layers and progressions, that makes this such a good listen. It’s all done fairly gently for the most part, yet it’s insistent in its momentum.
It will be interesting to see how the band achieves all this in a live context – a friend who saw them in Belfast before they headed off to Europe said they were good but he sensed they had not played live for a while. All that should be well sorted by the time they return to England for these dates:
Wed 29 Feb: York Hall, Bethnal Green, London www.barbican.org.uk
Thur 1 Mar: Komedia Brighton komediabrighton.ticketsolve.com
Mon 5 Mar: Sage 2 Gateshead thesagegateshead.org
Tues 6 Mar: The Duchess York theduchessyork.co.uk
Wed 7 Mar: Town Hall Birmingham www.thsh.co.uk
Thur 8 Mar: Queens Social Club Sheffield www.harleylive.co.uk/ticket-shop
Fri 9 Mar: Arts Centre Norwich www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk
Sat 10 Mar: RNCM Manchester www.rncm.ac.uk
