Delighting in contradiction, Structure is an ambitious LPthat approaches it's own impressive scope and aspiration with a tongue-in-cheek humor and a reflexive self-effacement that wonderfully reflects the personalities of it'screators. Influenced by Scott Walker's sole 80s release,Climate of Hunter and the works of the colorfield painterMark Rothko, it's a concept album that pokes fun of theidea of concept albums, exploring high-minded ideaswhile subverting them and applying a hyper-focused eyefor detail in the service of a series of clever misdirections.Tracks like opening single Quotations see the bandat their freewheeling best, drawing from the persistentand building rhythms of the dance music tradition that haslong been one of the many elements of their sound, toconstruct a mesmerizing forest of sounds out of repeatingvocal samples, swooping synth lines and eventually cascading break beats. At the other end of the album's auditory spectrum, When You're Around is an almost-saccharine nod at the band's more pop-oriented work to date.When taken together Structure paints a picture too vast to betaken in at once, but repeated listens reveal melodic subtleties, rhythmic minutiae, and lyrical repetition that allow thewhole to come into focus. Whether the lasting impression isconcrete or abstract will depend on the listener's perspective, but from any vantage point Structure is a thrillingly original release and a first-class achievement in brutalist pop
