Project Pablo – There's Always More at the Store
There's Always More at the Store is further evidence of an artist with a desire to experiment with different sounds and work outside his comfort zone
Patrick Holland, best known as Project Pablo, is one of the breakout artists from the Canadian Riviera’s blossoming house scene. It’s a scene renowned for blurring the lines between club music and that made for home listening, and Holland’s latest offering – a five-track EP on Ninja Tune sub-label Technicolour – continues with that mantra.
The opening track, Napoletana, provides the most obvious example of this. Introducing itself with a forceful kick drum, its layers gradually unravel over four and a half minutes, conveying far greater musical depth than the average club tool.
Last Day is the EP’s highpoint. Here Holland draws on his history of classical music, utilising an improvised piano loop to carve out a fleeting, evocative ambient piece that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Aphex Twin album.
Elsewhere, Less and Less manages to successfully straddle the unacquainted middle ground between UK Garage and mid-90s IDM; I Heard You Breathing treads dangerously close to trance with its overarching poignancy; while Remind Me Tomorrow is characterised by a hazy lo-fi rhythm.
Describing There’s Always More At The Store as a solid set of club cuts would do Holland a serious disservice. Instead, it’s further evidence of an artist with a desire to experiment with different sounds and work outside his comfort zone.
Listen to: Napoletana, Last Day