The Line Is A Curve

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It is the first time they have leaned on so many influences, allowing themselves to put something out that isn’t tied as closely to ‘concept’ in the way that all of the other albums have been. The album’s longest track, Salt Coast and its shortest, Move, are perfect examples of songs where Tempest’s voice is suffocated by the music. The musicality becomes more expansive as the lyrical horizon broadens and we glimpse coastlines, high streets, scrap yards, train stations in the rain; the entire album begins to let go. All of this over one of the most carefully constructed beats of their career, each key change making the hairs on your arms stand up.

As lyrics that focus on making the most of what you have today, a key Tempest tenet, the sounds of French horn, cornet, and tuba create an increasingly claustrophobic cacophony that puts me in mind of a dark room, couples holding hands at candlelit tables, men in fedoras, women in ball gowns. To mark the occasion, we spoke with the man behind the masters of Matthew Herbert, Eliza Rose and Crass about his most memorable .Online since 2010 it is one of the fastest-growing and most respected music-related publications on the net. We encounter the contributions of artists who I love and admire, guest vocalists and instrumentalists, and so we defeat the sense of isolation felt in the opening track with a sense of deeply connected community. It was followed by something of a left turn in the form of the Rick Rubin produced The Book Of Traps And Lessons; an album that marked a surprising, yet unexpectedly welcome, departure from the visceral intensity of Let Them Eat Chaos. Still, when Tempest decelerates the flow on No Prizes, the suspense and intensity fade away, leaving the track feeling a little empty.

Grian Chatten has a stonking spoken-word verse on ‘I Saw Light’, Lianne La Havas’s vocals make ‘No Prizes’ a thing of pure beauty, Confucius MC takes ‘Smoking’ to a new level after a purposefully subdued verse from Kae, and Kevin Abstract is encouraged to hammer home the message at the end of ‘More Pressure. Here, they interact superbly with the soft Irish burr of the first of several collaborators on The Line Is A Curve, Fontaines D. Exit Strategy’ was produced by Bernard Butler and part-recorded here across Studio Three, the Gatehouse and Writing Room Three. Now comes their fourth album, The Line Is A Curve, and pleasingly it marks yet another step forward. Tempest’s work is at its most profound when the cadence and rhythms embody those of the spoken word.It’s a fascinating listen as a languid synth provides a compelling counterpoint to Tempest’s visceral rap. Notwithstanding that, Tempest remains one of our most innovative and thought provoking artists and despite the occasional mis-step, there is plenty enough going on within this album to keep us hooked. It’s hard to ignore that this is the first album that Kae has released since sharing with the world that they identify as non-binary.