Cascade pushes Floating Points’ sound forward into new places. The eight songs here are allowed to smoulder and spark for up to eight minutes at a time, allowing for more expansive exploration of sounds and grooves than before. A subtle homage to his hometown of Manchester ripples across Cascade. “Afflecks Palace” an enveloping glide of harp melodies overtaken by otherworldly bleeps and beeps, named after a Mancunian market described as an “emporium of eclecticism.” Elsewhere, there’s ‘Key 103’, named after “an underground Manchester radio station a young Sam Shepherd would listen to “religiously”. Almost a decade on since Elaenia, his revered debut album, the composer has discovered ways to thread his experiments outside of club music seamlessly into his music designed for the dancefloor
