Sometime FRIDGE member ADEM ILHAN’S debut album “Homesongs” was a quiet, intimate and fragile delight which made a mockery of the expected ‘electronica’ album he was expected to make by dint of his association with Fridge/ Four Tet compatriot Kieran Hebden. It was later awkwardly pigeonholed as a ‘nu-folk’ album by most reviewers, but really its’ acoustic and literally home-recorded songs were things of beauty in their own right which inhabited their own special space.
Funny I should mention the word ‘space’ there actually, because ADEM’S eagerly-awaited (I think we can use the epithet fairly in this case) second solo album “Love And Other Planets” is mostly concerned with space: the space around us, the space between us, the space within us, space as a metaphor and space as in the solar system.
Potentially big issues, for sure, but when tackled with the dignity, warmth and sincerity Adem brings to his music, they make perfect sense. And indeed “Love And Other Planets” pretty much takes up from where “Homesongs” left off musically, so there’s no need to panic: it’s hardly a concept album in the Prog-gy sense of the term.
What it is, is a little more confident than its’ predecessor. Yes, the concerned and questioning opener “Warning Call” is still based around acoustic guitar, piano and tinkly home-made instrumentation. It’s introspective, but determined and begins with Adem asking “if we received a warning call, would we change at all?” The way humans are, you’re tempted to think not, but it’s difficult to deny the song’s ending when he implores “let’s not end our days like they did on Earth” or come away thinking we don’t have room for improvement.
It’s lovely, but it’s with second tune “Something’s Going To Come” that demonstrates how much Adem has grown since “Homesongs”. Although it begins low-key and vulnerable (“don’t you look so sad, ‘cos something’s going to come…I don’t know from where” he marvels) by the time the chorus sweeps in there’s a full drum kit and double bass making their presence felt, some cunning low-key Beach Boys harmonies and suddenly the idea of Adem making a ‘pop’ record of sorts doesn’t seem so far-fetched at all.
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Several other songs boldly take up the ‘pop’ baton too. “Launch Yourself” is based around a clever rhythm pattered out by handclaps, though again there’s a real rhythm section in there; “Crashlander” is gentle, jazzy pop and a sort of less-fatalistic Major Tom scenario with even a touch of Chris Martin in Adem’s ever-improving voice and the excellent “These Lights Are Meaningful” finds him staring long and hard into the firmament and declaring “we must resolve ourselves.” He’s not wrong, neither.
Of course for all the pop advances, “Love And Other Planets” still has moments of gossamer-light fragility such as the romantic and balmy “Sea Of Tranquility”, the deceptive, low-key electronica of “Last Transmission From The Lost Mission” and the ultra-delicate “Spirals” where Adem lets us deep within his heart and sings “you marked the back of my hand/ you drew a heart and some tiny dots.” Aahhh. Even when he’s being a little more tongue-in-cheek, like on “You And Moon” with its’ hip-hop handclap beats, thumb piano, tiny tambourines and ironic lyrics (“we’re making music with instruments of science”) he comes up with something truly enchanting in the process.
Like his debut then, “Love And Other Planets” is open-hearted, contemplative and unassuming without ever lacking in a quiet grit and determination. It’s a logical next step for Adem, but it’s got its’ own special atmosphere and is far too inclusive to simply be “Homesongs – Part 2.” Space is indeed the place, it seems.
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