Sunken Treasure: Herbert’s ‘Bodily Functions’

Matthew Herbert had been releasing tracks under various monikers for years but first album proper, Around The House, was a game changer. It elevated his elegant take on dance music to another level. Samples were sourced from the sound of everyday kitchen objects. The other major change was the presence of his then-partner Dani Siciliano. Her languorous vocals brought a whole lot more than just narrative cohesion to the sound. She provided the perfect foil for Herbert's fractured beats.

Three years later the pair took another giant leap with Bodily Functions. A melancholy air breezes through the record but the lush sound provides an uplifting counterpoint to the palpable sadness. The lyrics feel conversational. Many of the samples are culled from the anatomy but apart from the opening track, You're Unknown to Me, which features the gurgling and cries of a newborn there aren't a lot of identifiable bodily functions. The credits tell a different story. The metamorphosis of the rhythmic clicks and clacks from sounds like the clenching of teeth and the combing of hair tell its own story of the producer's skills set. Herbert's modus operandi is an exact science.

All the tracks adhering to the details of his Personal Contract for the Composition of Music (POCCOM), a set of personal production rules preventing him from overly relying on the crutches of modern technology.

Herbert liberates himself from the cripplingly banal ways in which electronic music relies on formula. In doing so he adds subtlety and depth. He builds his own structures using organic elements and leaves room for the kind of ambiguity that lesser producers are unable to incorporate. The quality of his productions brook no argument. Music evolves through the minds of innovators. Herbert ticks all the boxes.