Audiopile Review: With mentions of BoC, Four Tet AND Khotin in the ad copy for this new artist on a new label, you’d have to forgive us if we were somewhat skeptical of the comparisons. It’s far too easy to just slap on some references than it is to actually reach the rarified air of some of our faves. So what DO we have here, then? A debut album from an emerging artist that manages to pinpoint those stylistic references while adding enough of their own patina and melodic intrigue to evade pure mimicry. At times its reminiscent of the music made by the likes of Freescha or Casino Versus Japan, Heroine juices the BoC template of woozy, nostalgia-core electronics with an even denser centre of IDM intricacy. From the slow-mo ambient twirl of the title track, cut-up vocal melodies and arcing synths on “We Used To Sing”, and the stuttering IDM crunch and melted keys of “Kobe”, House on the Strand marks an incredibly strong start for Heroine, and yeah, it’ll be a shoo-in for fans of the big three mentioned above.

“House on the Strand’s debut full length release is a playful, wide eyed and vivid collection of songs that echo the simplicity and nostalgia of 00’s childhood. A collection of colourful and vivid synth tones, fragmented beats and samples across 35mins dance like shapes and colours behind closed eye lids or like imperfect early digital camera footage of summers lost to memory. Sonically, ‘Heroine’’s tones and production sensibilities fall somewhere akin to Boards of Canada, Toxe, Fourtet, Khotin & Croatian Amor.”