Plaid - Feorm Falorx (LP)

Plaid have been bending circuitry into feeling for three decades now, and Feorm Falorx shows how fresh they still sound. The British duo of Ed Handley and Andy Turner, who first made their names with The Black Dog before striking out on Warp Records in the mid 90s, released this one on 11 November 2022. It lands after 2019’s Polymer, which was taut and a bit abrasive, and it brings back the duo’s soft focus melodicism without losing their bite. There’s a playful sci‑fi thread to it as well. The album is wrapped in a story about performing at an alien festival on the planet Falorx, then slipping away by digitising themselves to dodge local laws. It reads like a wink to fans who have always heard Plaid’s music as otherworldly, just with a plot this time.

Sonically, Feorm Falorx leans into the strengths that made Not for Threes and Double Figure beloved. You get tidy, syncopated drum programming that shuffles and snaps, rubbery low end that never muddies the mix, and those crystalline leads that seem to hum with their own internal light. The difference these days is the comfort and confidence. Plaid have always been meticulous, but there’s a looseness here, small human pivots inside the programming that let the melodies breathe. Where Polymer poked at harder materials and rougher textures, this one glows. It’s more bioluminescent reef than factory floor.

There’s a proper sense of travel between tracks, as if the set list from that fictional Falorx gig got sequenced with care. A slink of electro here, a hushed downtempo glide there, and then a burst of latticed arpeggios that feel like fireworks in low gravity. The single C.A. remains a standout. It coils around a deceptively simple hook and blossoms, layer by layer, into something buoyant and a little bittersweet. The production is, as ever, immaculate. Kicks have weight without thud, hats tick like tiny metronomes, and the synth work finds that Plaid sweet spot between glassy and warm. On good headphones you can almost see the edges of each sound. On a proper system the low end sits in your ribs.

It is also a record that rewards repeat listens. Melodies that seem straightforward on first pass reveal second and third voices tucked just underneath. Rhythms unspool in odd counts then click back into grid at the last moment. You can hear how much time these two have spent refining their language. They never chase trends, they just add new colours to a palette they’ve built since the early Warp years. If you’ve loved their soundtrack work, especially the way they balanced sentiment and futurism on Tekkonkinkreet, a similar emotional clarity runs through Feorm Falorx. It’s music that respects the head and the heart.

As for format, Feorm Falorx vinyl is the way to live with it. Plaid vinyl tends to show off their mix decisions, and this set’s clicky percussion and pillowy pads feel designed to bloom on wax. If you’re crate digging in a Melbourne record store, keep an eye out, because it sits nicely next to their late 90s and early 2000s titles. If you need to buy Plaid records online, plenty of local shops that ship vinyl records Australia wide will sort you out. And if you’re building a little corner of your shelf for Plaid albums on vinyl, this one belongs right beside Polymer, like two chapters in the same book.

What makes the album stick is the mood. There’s curiosity in it. Optimism, even. Not naive, because the drums still snap and the basslines still carry a bit of mischief, but curious about what’s around the next corner. It is easy to imagine the Falorx crowd, real or not, nodding along in low light as each tune slinks into the next. That’s how it feels at home too. You put it on while cooking or late at night, and it subtly rearranges the room. The sci‑fi conceit gives it cohesion, the craft gives it poise, and the melodies give it that Plaid signature, the one that keeps fans coming back decades in.

If you’ve ever wondered where to start with a group whose catalogue stretches back to the early 90s, this is a welcoming point of entry. It’s modern, confident, and unmistakably them. And if you’re hunting for a clean copy, Feorm Falorx vinyl is a tidy addition to any Warp-heavy shelf.