Name a single artist or band that found it easy to produce new material following the release of a hugely successful and critically-acclaimed album. It’s not easy now, is it? And Jape is no exception to the rule. But three years after his Choice Music Prize-winning Ritual, he has finally returned with a fourth studio album.
The first few seconds of Ocean Of Frequency might leave you with the impression that this is a collaboration with Brian Eno. But for good or for worse, it’s not. The opening track, ‘An Hallucination’, is nothing more than a hypnotic mechanism. Less than a minute later, things change dramatically. Jape’s Ocean Of Frequency is a parallel ‘80s universe... in the future. In an album full of contrasts, it’s hard to tell when the artist’s cheerful or melancholic, carefree or troubled, nerdy or cool. The hypnotic drums and catchy “uh oh ohs” of ‘Please Don’t Turn The Record Off’ will have you up on the dancefloor performing your best ‘80s moves but next thing you know, the brilliant ‘Oldest Mind’ will break your heart.

Still, there are a couple of weak moments. The sound experiments in ‘One Of Those Days That Just Feels So Long’ produce a little musical Frankenstein and the voice-altering ruins an otherwise good tune. But to make up for it, the nostalgic pop of ‘Borrowed Time With Peace’ soothes the mind and the acoustic guitars of ‘Its Shadow Won’t Make A Noise’ offer a beautiful break from the electro fiesta. And even if you hate the rest of the album – which you won’t – the exhilarating ‘Scorpio’ will make you get into a convertible car and drive along a sunny seashore with the wind blowing through your hair – singing loudly of course. Just try not to zigzag.