hidden spheres: 1985

Hidden Spheres is the alter ego of Manchester's Tom Harris, who first made his mark on the underground circuit with his release The Bloos on Moods & Grooves, before following it up with the much in demand Waiting on Lobster Theremin offshoot, Distant Hawaii. Here, Tom joins the Scissor & Thread family, the Brooklyn label founded by Francis Harris, and home to music that traverses a number of boundaries. Hidden Spheres fits right in -- the five-track 1985 EP blends house, broken beat, ambient, jazz, and other elements into a heady brew. "King Tut" starts proceedings, a laidback jazzy groove, rich in textures and soulful flourishes. "My Names" touches on the UK broken beat legacy of 4 Hero and Bugz in the Attic -- an off-kilter groove layered with sweet jazz and house inflected licks. "Karl" is a much more direct dancefloor track, albeit with the deepness that we expect from Hidden Spheres. The penultimate track "1985" steps into the unconventional house vibes of Detroit's third wave. "Soon We'll" finishes up the EP -- a supremely jazzy piece built around the sax, piano and washes of strings, and ambient elements -- a superb closer for a deep and heartfelt release.