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Spanning over just seventeen minutes, Missed Connection comes and goes relatively quickly, plunging you briefly into its gentle soundscapes and hoisting you out again soon after. So of course, this EP from Court of Hidden Faces needs to be fairly direct if it is to fully envelop listeners in its glitchy ambience, as well as displaying enough depth to encourage replay.

Opening piece “The Landscape Changes Hue” begins with Fennesz-style static, tucked away behind delicate, post-rock melodies. It’s all quite pretty and touching, though the electronic/acoustic interplay feels slightly unconvincing at this early stage - the guitar sits awkwardly on top of the wash of electro-interference, and both implements together feel like two puzzle pieces, untidily forced to interlock.

However, the seamless flow between tracks is expertly orchestrated. Effectively, Missed Connection is a single composition, with track transitions completely blurred and unnoticeable. The final two sections are brilliant; the atmosphere expands outwards into something cavernous and metallic, whilst an eerie tension rises up in the form of soft harmonies and tremolo-picked leads. It could, and should, continue on for a good eight minutes or so, allowing the mood to gradually sink in and cement itself into the subconscious.

But this doesn’t happen. The ending comes abruptly, leaving Missed Connection feeling incomplete, swiping away the experience just as it begins to make an emotive impact. It’s an EP that offers up a taster, a mere demonstration of potential, without delivering the full capability of Court of Hidden Faces. Perhaps with a full length, this band can really shine, fully unveiling the talent that this effort only offers a glimpse of.

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Reviewer: Jack Chuter Added: November 26th 2007