BACKSTORY:
Mason Bee, The Bee, or just Benet Walsh if you happen to struggle with particularly severe anaphylaxis. On his first solo outing as ‘Mason Bee’, Benet Walsh lovingly constructs delicate layers of hazy tripped out electronica which utilize his great experience as a folk musician.
Until now, Benet has been best known as the long-term co-writer and touring partner with techno-legends Plaid (Warp Records). It’s clear from these past experiences, and his debut Play Flights, that Benet is plain and simple an absolute melodic fox. Or bee. When listened to as a whole album, Play Flights is at once diverse yet cohesive. Whether it’s the acoustic funk of Les Hippocampes or the sensorial electro eargasm that is Star Rover, never have I worried so much that a slip of the skip button would throw me so coldly out of its mysterious cordial soundscape.
Play Flights has gained notable recognition across the board. It has featured on Bandcamp’s ‘Best Electronic Music’ for April, and has gained radio plays from Mary Anne Hobbs, Tom Ravenscroft, and Reform Radio’s Graham Massey. Additionally, tracks Star Rover and Les Hippocamps have been tinkered with by American producer John Tejada, and Plaid, respectively. Find the tracks here.
https://masonbee.bandcamp.com/album/play-flights
It’s also worth mentioning the great artwork for Play Flights – Nicholas Stevenson gives a depiction from a bee’s-eye-view of the world by using UV light perception. Sounding as though the image looks, it’s not hard to picture Play Flights soundtracking a generation of euphoric, pollen popping bees.
Now, in order to avoid an unlikely sting from the hardworking Mason Bee, it’s customary to adopt the world-class pollen spreading characteristics of the insect. If you think of your friends as flowers and Play Flights as pollen, then it would only be natural to spread this work as fruitfully as possible. That’s what I’ve done, and now it’s your turn… for the sake of our ecosystem.
KEY TRACKS: Star Rover, Liffclang Halo, Dial
FOR FANS OF: Sunda Arc, Robag Wruhme, Jamie XX
