Self Help Dance

Electronic music is usually not taken very seriously, generally due to the way that it’s hard to create in an organic manner, with the precursory synthesisers and computerised sound. But Model 86, aka Manchester-born Matthew James Wilcock, creates music with a creepy yet alluring taste, retaining a more natural aesthetic.

His work is among the most organically composed writing around, especially in electronic music, and doesn’t have the same sickly bitterness that the genre sometimes carries. Instead, there is a freshness, coupled with a definite confidence. Unlike a lot of similar electronic albums, Self Help Dance worms its way into your psyche, interesting but also catchy.

Highlights on the EP (which, at 51 minutes and 14 tracks is basically an LP) include ‘CTRL’ and ‘Friend’, the latter of which is best appreciated for its playful nature, whilst the former is more ambient, which can cross over into elevator music, but retains a listenability through the minutiae of timing and sustain – by holding it that bit longer, it allows the track to build slowly. Tracks built in this manner, with such a gradual climax, wouldn’t usually be deployed as the second track on an album, but this easily has enough pull without any vocals to work anyway, especially with the culmination of a myriad of different instruments. The EP is an impressive mix of classically-built electronica with a façade of modernity, and has a slowness that drags you in and holds you.