On the cusp of their 30th year with Warp, now is the time to reflect on the important presence of Plaid, aka Ed Handley and Andy Turner. An institution since the late 80s, they’re monumental cornerstones for any self-respecting electronic music fan; mainly as Plaid, but also under aliases including The Black Dog and Balil - not to mention their work with Bjork.

Playful and wondrous, their 11th album is generally gentler than the dark angularity its predecessor, but it’s no less deep, and maintains the melodicism for which they’re loved. It’s still highly rhythmic too - traversing »Set If Off« hi-hats, digitised harpsichords, mangled mandolin, cascading strings, rude basslines, mercurial grooves and even a touch of goth guitar.

Keen advocates of technology, on »Feorm Falorx« they manage to sound cutting edge, but also warm, human and nostalgic - purveying a sort of high-tech-retro-futurism. As usual they’re ever evolving, but there’s also line traceable right back within their own music.

The album artwork and press photos were created using a myriad of AI technology, Image Synthesis and OpenAI's DALL·E, which can be seen in action here. Expanding on the same theme using AI/AR mechanisms, these will be followed by videos and a graphic novel, building into a whole Falorxian planet.