Plants Plants are a mix of electronic soundscapes and synth pop vocals that are getting quite a few people excited. Produced by Jas Shaw, one half of Simian Mobile Disco, they are friends Stuart Francis and Howard Whatley. They’ve been together just a year or so honing their sound and have just put out a self-titled four track EP.

To start, the whole EP, except the percussion-less ‘Dandelion’, is filled with some of the smoothest beats and warmest synth work I’ve heard this year. It needs to be though as it’s a downtempo ride – in the world of synth-based leftfield pop, think Bibio, not Errors.

The lead track ‘Hands That Sleep’ envelopes you from the off, while a neat guitar riff keeps you in the moment, ready and able to focus on the otherworldly vocals reminiscent of These New Puritans but with talent. The EP continues in a similarly brilliant vein, ‘She’s No One’ being the standout track for me, right up until the final track which is a slower, more chilled out affair. Take it for a walk, preferably through some fields when the sun is shining and run your hands through the long grass. If not, then do what I did and just your eyes image you are, it works almost as well.

When performing Plants Plants are very much ‘live’ with all the layers and effects put together on the fly. This follows the healthy trend of recent years where electronic artists are resisting the urge to stand behind a laptop and instead are giving the audience a performance to watch. The likes of Gold Panda and SBTRKT are two very different, but very good examples of how to do this effectively, and it’s great to see that other artists are following suit. Long may it continue.

Plants Plants – She’s No One [alt]

Plants Plants EP is out now on Less Music.