Bicep - Rain

April 11, 2018 - Ninja Tune

They say the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain. But, in Bicep’s case, it’s just stormy weather. Not the disastrous kind of storms, but the foreboding kind that encourages you stay indoors and think about the things that confuse you. In my case, those things are the motives behind Bicep’s release cycle. 

Rain is a tangential EP with tracks that strongly remind me of the tracks on the Bicep album, released with resounding applause on Ninja Tune in September 2017. And my déjà vu is justified by the fact that ‘Rain’ the track was released on both the Bicep Album and Rain EP. 

That said, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the second track ‘Helix.’ It starts off punchy with a thick drum beat and continues with something complex and contradictory—a bright, sparkly melancholy. The melody is unexpected. It reads like forgettable transitional notes pulled from the melody of a different song and transformed by the pressure of a spotlight. These are the days of our lives, the in-between notes we take for granted that carry us from one memorable melodic swell to another. Bicep luxuriates in media res, presenting a new perspective and cultivating a unique melodic sensibility that my saturated ears find very refreshing. 

These three ‘new’ tracks are exactly what I expect from Bicep almost one year after they first appeared on my radar—technically tight, heavily textured, attractive music, unexpected melodies evocative of complex emotions, a soundscape where instruments are played like drops of water in a bowl. So, consider Rain the EP Bicep’s late addendum to their brilliant self-titled album, because that’s how it reads. The addendum is obligatory, but the full album is what you are buying. This EP is an infant standing before a monolith. And if you like babies, go listen to both projects back to back. 

Rain was not released to push envelopes. In fact, it seems like a compulsory release to keep up appearances of career activity. Mission accomplished, Bicep. I haven’t forgotten about you. Thank you for sending me a great reminder to put your album back on my turntable. ☔