A Closer Listen
We have covered releases by both William Tyler (as recently as 23rd April this year) and Kieran Hebden (as Four Tet), but even so, this is a surprising collaboration that originally appeared on the single “Darkness, Darkness” / “No Services” on Psychic Hotline in 2023. “Darkness, Darkness” had a Tyler introduction but sounded closer to a Four Tet track overall (sampling a near-forgotten 70s folk-adjacent tune into the bargain) and “No Services” was an atmospheric ambient track that seemed to go in a different direction altogether from their solo work.
As it turns out, the single arrived ten years after Hebden and Tyler first met. Or not. In the notes for the album, Kieran Hebden says that they first met at Bonnaroo in 2013, whereas Tyler claims they ‘almost crossed paths’ and got in touch later. They reconnected just before COVID and bonded over 80s Americana; Hebden because his dad was a big fan and played it around the house, whereas Tyler’s dad was a songwriter in Nashville and knew the artists making it. Nanci Griffith’s Storms album seems to have been the touchstone, although it’s a Lyle Lovett cover that kicks off 41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s.
The original version of “If I Had A Boat” has vocals and is about three minutes long. The Hebden / Tyler cover is instrumental and sails past the 11-minute mark, just in case you were concerned the pairing had fully embraced 80s Americana. Opening with a long, gradually escalating drone before Tyler’s solo guitar plays the theme, it is pretty clear early on that Hebden is going to adopt his approach when tapped up to produce for other people – particularly James Yorkston and Beth Orton – which is to do a lot of the heavy lifting in the background without imposing his own style too firmly on the music. Four Tet seems to pack out Alexandra Palace with an audio-visual extravaganza on an annual basis, but there is a reason Hebden’s using his own name for this, the first time since his string of albums with Steve Reid. Bleeps and bloops gradually take over from the guitar strings, but the shift is so gradual, it’s barely noticeable at first.
The rhythm that underpins “Spider Ballad” is cut from the same cloth – taking Tyler’s guitar, sampling it and putting it through Hebden’s box of tricks, so it acts as an organic pulse rather than a kick drum beat. If we were to make a crude delineation for this album, there’s more Hebden on side one, and more Tyler in the second half. His guitar chimes like a celeste on “Timber,” and it’s basically unadorned (although multi-layered) on “When It Rains” – at this point, it’s worth mentioning that Hebden played guitar in Fridge, so it’s likely he’s duetting on the six strings here. The duo save the best until last with “Secret City,” which builds on a strident acoustic guitar pattern with slowly building guitar squall in the background. It’s similar to Fridge’s “Years And Years And Years…” that ended their final album, which – if nothing else – underlines Hebden’s way with a closing track.
As the album title indicates, there’s a certain sense of nostalgia permeating the record, although it is hard to detect much Americana from that era remaining as the old styles get chopped up, sampled and twisted around, so there’s not much recognisable left. What is obvious is that Hebden and Tyler are very sympathetic collaborators; these are artists with impressive back catalogues and a recognisable sound who have crafted something fresh. There’s nothing here as abrasive as the opening of Tyler’s Time Indefinite, an album that saw him shifting further upriver, away from the ‘American primitivism’ of earlier work. But 41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s confirms that he is one of the more intriguing guitarists out there at the moment, and this is a collaboration that truly delivers. (Jeremy Bye)
Thu Sep 25 00:01:00 GMT 2025