Ben Vince: Street Druid

"Ben Vince plays his saxophone like a man with one foot in another dimension. His tone is searching, mystical, molten; his penchant for looping and layering evokes blurry shapes emerging from a thick mist. No stave could contain him: Even the sweetest tone might peel off into a harried bleat."

"On his early records, the London musician made do with saxophone alone, looping and layering his instrument into billowing expressions of foghorn melancholy. He cut a profoundly romantic figure: One imagined him out wandering the heath, half shrouded in fog, braving the elements or perhaps summoning them."

"Vince's new album, Street Druid, gives the impression of a city in sound. It is sturdier and more imposing than anything he has done to date. And while his tone remains intractable, impossible to pin down-here a will-o'-the-wisp, there a gale-force wind-the structures he builds around it have never felt more elaborate or enduring."

Ben Vince is a London saxophonist known for his distinctive, searching tone and innovative use of looping and layering techniques. His early work featured solo saxophone recordings that created atmospheric, melancholic soundscapes. Beginning with his 2018 album Assimilation, Vince began collaborating with various artists including Mica Levi, Rupert Clervaux, and Valentina Magaletti. Subsequent collaborative projects explored diverse genres from free jazz to industrial trip-hop. His latest album, Street Druid, represents a significant evolution, featuring more elaborate and enduring musical structures while preserving his characteristic intractable tone that shifts between ethereal and forceful qualities.

Read at Pitchfork