Album Review: Bibio - Phantom Brickworks

Here's an abrupt about-face; after turning stomachs with the saccharine pop of A Mineral Love, this speedy follow-up features "mostly improvised" ambient headspace clearers.

No songs, no beats, just long, sleepy drones and very simple melodies. It's hard not to describe Phantom Brickworks as "haunted", as each part evolves slowly revealing hidden depths. It'd be tempting to write this off as a potboiler in between major projects, but there are subtle undercurrents of emotion that gently reel in the patient listener, not least on the melancholic Capel Celyn.