Towards the end of Ambivalence Avenue, English producer Bibio started to drift more and more away from his folk-influenced tendencies and more towards pure electronica ("dwrcan"). His latest release, Mind Bokeh more or less begins where his last album left off. Bibio trades in his more natural found sounds and uses a more traditional cut-copy method this time out. That said, his music still maintains enough fluidity to provide a nice blanket for his vocals to rest on which is he actually uses rather sparingly. There's even a more blatant rock-influence("Take Off Your Shirt"). Every once in awhile though, there's an occasional glimpse into his old way of doing things most notably in "Artist's Valley" and "Saint Christopher".
While it's certainly a shock to the system that Mind Bokeh is so different than Ambivalence Avenue, it's also refreshing that Bibio is willing to try a complete overhaul of his previous music-making methods. The result is definitely worthy of a listen. The album is catchy in a way that's not as poppy as it's predecessor and never quite reaches anything deliberately danceable. Rather, Bibio's brand of music is for pure enjoyment's sake with some foot-trapping grooves thrown in for good measure.
Get a sneak peek of Bibio's updated sound with the video for "Excuses":
