Skalpel Highlight (Purple)

Skalpel - Highlight Genres: electronic Label: NoPaper Year: 2025 Media: vinyl No. of discs: 1 Format: 12"LP Vinyl color: purple https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kVT4vSdMf7oIuFOVgq5T9uUNM-z8kuMo4 Vinyl cut by Stefan Betke (Pole) / Scape Mastering Tracklist: 1. Blow 2. Cold Air 3. Quicksilver 4. Escape 5. Distant 6. Pull Closer 7. Countless 8. Event 9. Arrival 10. ZorzaSkalpel, ambassadors of Polish music, return with their new album, "Highlight." This eclectic, incredibly impressive album opens a new chapter in the band's career – the album will be released in Poland by NoPaper Records, while the iconic !K7 Records (including Tosca and Tricky) will be responsible for its promotion and distribution worldwide. For years, Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudło have combined inspiration from local jazz tradition with a fascination with the possibilities of new electronics. It's no surprise that their recordings caught the attention of the cult label Ninja Tune, for whom the Wrocław-based duo recorded two critically acclaimed albums, "Skalpel" and "Konfusion." These releases resulted in a Gilles Peterson Worldwide Award nomination, glowing reviews in prestigious music publications from NME, The Wire, and DJ Magazine, and concerts around the world. Their third album, "Transit," marked a shift away from sample-based music and toward compositions created with virtual instruments. "Highlight" is another breakthrough – the most eclectic album in the Wrocław band's career, with references drawn from the fusion of Miles Davis, minimal music, and the electronic legacy of Warp and Ninja Tune. There are also references to Polish jazz traditions and trip-hop, yet it's a distinctly contemporary album, reflecting sonic trends and recordings by today's most acclaimed producers. And yet, it's a distinct and original voice. "Highlight" is – as the musicians themselves describe it – a document of a joyful creative explosion: Marcin and Igor recall that the work on it was long and arduous, yet they also admit to a sense of excitement, lightness, and artistic inspiration. Skalpel took a breather and returned with the most rhythmically diverse and harmonically richest album in their discography. In recent years, the band has toured with a big band, performing their studio compositions in arrangements for a 17-piece orchestra, and perhaps this new approach to arrangement, in the tradition of Gil Evans, has also benefited the new compositions. The very first bars of the opening track "Blow," with its delicate melodic loop, induce a state of hypnotic bliss, intensified by a powerful bass counterpoint. "Cold Air," with its distinctive Fender Rhodes sound, resonates with echoes of Miles's focused explorations from the fusion period, here interpreted in a downtempo context. "Quicksilver" can be briefly described as "Steve Reich meets 4Hero" – a vital composition, carried by a catchy piano loop, great breaks, and in-vocals, that demonstrates how organically Skalpel's aesthetic has recently developed. Similarly, "Escape" – the album's first single, charming harmonically and sonically, has the pop potential of recordings by Bonobo and Caribou. "Distant" is a return to their jazz roots – a barroom atmosphere created by the sound of a double bass, a delicate snare drum, and a sparse trumpet develops into a trance-like "journey to Satchidananda." "Pull Closer," in turn, recalls the Wrocław duo's hip-hop roots. The sparse abstract beat provides a strong foundation for Hancockian fusion. "Countless" introduces a neon melancholy to the evening – the slow tempo and diffused melodies create a soundtrack for a metropolitan hallucination. On "Event," the band brightens the landscape a bit – a gentle, spring awakening, a smooth ambient that restores harmony and peace after the turmoil of the night. "Arrival" is a free-flowing, fulfilled fantasy about "what if Boards of Canada came from Tuscany?" “Aurora” – creates a subtle yet effective coda to this extraordinary album – hypnotic synthesizer repetitions woven around organic, jazzy drums and a looped vocal motif act like an afternoon raga: like the entire album, it is an invigorating meditation, a celebration of the joy of music, creation, and life.