I’ve been following Pixel Fix since they dropped ’Rosa’ on us about 18 months ago. They’ve since ventured out of the Oxford scene, but after 3 EPs, there’s still no sign of an album on the horizon, which is what most fans are waiting for.
This latest four-track EP, Running Thin, is much more of a development on the sound they produced in Fall, their previous release, suggesting something of a distancing from their earlier work. But, as the opening track shows, they’re still experimenting and evolving their music.
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‘Lungs’ has been around for a couple of months now, and is what I’d imagine would happen if Jungle and The 1975 had a musical love-baby. This is the closest the EP gets to the first release, and is much more energetic than the other tracks. As the song melts away, the entire ethos of the tracks change; the aptly-named ‘Change This’ opens with some sci-fi vocal samples layered over the sound of rain. The ambience of the song remains consistent throughout, with downtempo drums layered underneath wet click tracks that sound like they’ve been pulled straight from the stems of ‘Rosa’. The long guitar strums that seem to be written into the DNA of the band add to the add to the dreampop feel, giving it an extra element and making it much more rounded.
The third track, ‘Still’, is the obligatory instrumental interlude that seems to be becoming a theme throughout each of the band’s releases. Starting out as a 30-second click track from the eponymous first release, they’ve developed into much more intricate compositions, and are placed at varying points throughout each EP. The interesting drum tracks on ‘Still’ could probably do with a bit more depth, but I’ll blame my laptop speakers for not giving me the complete picture here.
‘Still’ dissolves into ‘Overflow’, which opens like a Purity Ring song. With large vocal and synth swells, before moving into a heavier but still downtempo song, it further distances the band from the Two Door Cinema Club sound they captured a year and a half ago. However, despite Pixel Fix’s progressive style, each track is still distinctly theirs, as certain themes remain consistent with each release. The wet click tracks, ringing guitars and sampled vocals, the band still seem to be trying to find something they can settle on. But this disparity between tracks isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and, if the band decides to do a full-length release, we could be rewarded with something nicely varied, but still distinctly unique.
Pixel Fix have recently announced a full UK tour, check their Facebook page for more details.