Ex Eye - Ex Eye (Relapse Records) 2017
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Combining the forces of avant-garde saxophonist Colin Stetson, Greg Fox (Liturgy) and Shahzad Ismaily (Secret Chiefs 3), Ex Eye are the kind of band who defy expectation and definition.
It’s like being caught in the fever dreams of M.C. Escher, a twisted tangle of bewildering time signatures, extraordinary musical prowess and no shortage of pulsating, invigorating drama. The key to its holding together is the way in which it pulls the unexpected out of its players, surging forward with Fox’s relentlessly precise drumming whilst Stetson adds definition and a sense of punctuality, both being tied together by Ismaily’s hypnotic, near-extraterrestrial meanderings.
It’s busy, but those involved have such an innate sense of time and space that listening to it is like peering into another universe – alien but who knows what will happen if your attention ever slips.