PTTRNS – Body Pressure

Cologne's PTTRNS' live shows are summed up best by their one-sentence bio - “Everyone plays everything.” This includes the crowd, who are invited to contribute to the songs as they are created live. This culminated in the absorption of one crowd-member to their permanent roster, in the form of percussionist Hendrik Fesse. Now a four-piece, they are following up their experimental 12” series Love Quest with full-length album Body Pressure.

Wading in the same post-punk-meets-synth-pop pool as Hot Chip, Bloc Party and !!!, their polished, funk-infused rhythms and melodies will easily win over fans of those bands, with falsetto vocals, house music dynamics and an increasingly assured grasp of pop hooks. Healing is a celebratory 8-minute opener climaxing in hypercolour synths and looped, yelping vocals; String Talk reimagines '90s house as driving, infectious indie with hints of Prince's sexualised disco-funk; while Dice toys with Afrocentric guitar, dual vocal lines and quirky polyrhythms. A convincing debut.