Floating Points: Reflections Mojave Desert review – windswept space rock

Kitty Empire
Sam Shepherd onstage in Los Angeles.
From London to the Mojave Desert: Sam Shepherd onstage in Los Angeles. Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for FYF

As the name suggests, Floating Points are hard to pin down. One iteration of Sam Shepherd’s outfit consists of banging DJ sets with Four Tet and Caribou; the first album, Elaenia (2015), by contrast, consisted of an immersive tableau of drones, jazz and analogue burbles. Its equally involving successor relocates from London to the Mojave desert with a live band; a short film accompanies the release. Big skies and windswept topographies inform this record, which is as much about its process (swinging surround-sound microphones) as it is about the finished product. It’s less jazz and neoclassical than its predecessor, and more space rock – tracks such as Kelso Dunes introduce motorik beats into Shepherd’s modus operandi to no ill effect.

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