The Universe Will Take Care Of You is a rewarding challenge from Holden & Zimpel

Universally acknowledged or otherwise, this is a truth verifiable by reference to the history of “fusion” or “crossover” or whatever alternative descriptor one might care to employ. What might have been envisaged as an imaginative mix of styles has been, with depressing frequency, sadly realised as a hideous, congealed mess. Such monstrosities have abounded over the decades. Who can forget them, much as we might try? Of course, there have been some exceptions. However, the brutal fact is that, for the most part (and let us be generous here) the endeavour has rarely been an unqualified success. Responsibility for these musical atrocities might lie with the artist (originally), with the marketing department (ultimately) or, indeed, with a disastrous combination of both. In any event, the mix ‘n’ match battlefield is strewn with the corpses of those sent out over the top of rational consideration to meet their critical and commercial fates.

With the attrition rate so high, and with notable survivors discouragingly few, comparatively successful ventures are especially pleasing, and the album under discussion is one such. What distinguishes this from so many of its hapless predecessors is (firstly) its demonstration of the artists’ appreciation of clearly

-defined structure within individual tracks, and (secondly) its recognition that intelligently-timed, agile rhythmic shifts (themselves a manifestation of the belief in structural coherence) engage and retain the listener’s attention far more effectively than the introduction of yet another esoteric sonic that all too often only serves to reinforce the impression of an audio equivalent of a motorway pile-up.

One reason why this record works well might be that James Holden and Waclaw Zimpel are from very different musical contexts. Holden’s field is mainly electronica, with some DJ and production work; Zimpel’s is more rooted in acoustic and classical, especially alto clarinet. So the alliance forces a rigorously critical approach to contrasting genres, each recognising the other’s skill and experience yet also with an awareness of dubiously discordant dangers. For Zimpel, his early training in classical music provided a solid basis for a knowledgeable excursion into jazz, yet it is clear that his attention to the formal strictures of composition has not deserted him.

Immediately, although the tracks are described as “improvisatory works”, in “You Are Gods” the sense of controlled experimentation is evident, with a clear rhythmic pattern underlying the skittering electronica. Thus, there are layers of sound but we are consistently aware of the relationships between them, with pulsing synths complemented by airy vocal effects, and the forward drive is not compromised by gratuitous diversions.

The introduction of Indian raga on “Sunbeam Path” leads to a slow development of related ideas, and the subsequent sonics are carefully built such that they do not displace the original but are thoughtfully incorporated to the extent that the more emphatic rhythm evolves all the more naturally, and the build-up to the more “psychedelic” suggestiveness carries greater conviction than has often in the past been the case when Eastern strands have been less artfully heaped onto, rather then woven into, Western patterns.

“Time Ring Rattles” presents a breathless rush that seems to owe more than a little to Steve Reich. Here, the production and mixing skills of the two are clear, as the separation of sounds (helped by a fine vinyl pressing) is particularly impressive, avoiding the undifferentiated sludge that is so much a risk with such fast-paced complexities. And the same can be said in respect of “Incredible Bliss” where the timing of the shifts in tone and rhythm is especially commendable. There is a furious gathering of high-pitched pace before a beautiful subsidence and then a re-grouping and accelerating. Here, the influence of krautrock is perhaps at its clearest on the album, though there are more gentle inflections of it elsewhere. The fact that it doesn’t seem out of place is testimony to the pair’s talent for integrating so much with so little fanfare.

Even with carefully-tempered ambition, not everything works equally well on this album. Nevertheless, Holden and Zimpel are to be commended for their dynamism allied to musical intelligence. There is considerable range here, yet there is also so much nuance on what is a challenging and simultaneously rewarding record.