Neil Cowley - Building Blocks, Pt. 6

A Closer Listen

In between albums (2021’s Hall of Mirrors and 2023’s fantastic Battery Life – read our review) Neil Cowley has been releasing a series of EPs called Building Blocks, the final part of which is released this week.

Cowley is a fascinating genre-bender, bringing together electronic and contemporary classical with the inevitable jazz influences of someone who had a jazz trio for more than a decade, and listening to the complete set of Building Block EPs is a wonderful journey. The two albums mentioned above are a bit more coherent than the EP set but that’s exactly the point: these EPs are made up of experiments, ideas that were worthy of being developed into complete pieces but didn’t fit into the grander album form. It is fascinating to consider what would have happened if Cowley had pursued one of the experiments further, developing it into a full album.

Building Blocks, Pt. 6’s five tracks range from intellectual-techno (“Deep Afflication” and “The Floor of St Thomas”) to meditative chillout (“Sleep Year”), blending pre-composed elements with improvisation. My favourite track, “Herald”, feels exactly like the last off-your-face moments in a Berlin nightclub and the subsequent walk home through the early dawn. There’s an ever-present dialogue with the genres—this is yet another release that is very difficult to pigeon-hole into one of our review categories—and indeed that’s the core dialectic of the music. Cowley writes:

In years gone by, whenever exploring electronic music I would express my contention to those that would listen that some music ‘got you high’ but didn’t feed you once you achieved that state of mind. You might find me after a long night dancing in a warehouse, curled up on my sofa at home listening to Bach or Shostakovich, finding soul food and musical architecture in their music to bridge that gap between euphoria and fulfillment. I have always been of a mind to bridge that gap myself when producing my own music and perhaps this is another humble attempt at fulfilling that same brief.

As such Cowley’s Building Blocks are a fascinating contrast to Lisa Ullén’s Heirloom, which we reviewed last week. Ullén’s music deliberately blends genre traits until they lose their meaning—and that’s precisely her purpose. By contrast Cowley uses genres, raising them up one by one to compare them, like a child examining building blocks to order to understand how they work. In doing so he invests genre with more meaning. Similar techniques, totally different outcomes.

Building Blocks proves once again that Cowley is that rarest of gift: a genuine intellectual with a practical goal, creating music with an immediate appeal that belies its subtle depth. (Garreth Brooke)