Review by Jason Ankeny
Fridge's second studio album is simultaneously sprawling and streamlined, a dense, wildly eclectic work which, while epic in scope, is rendered with exacting precision and minimalist grace. Darker and more enigmatic than the trio's previous outings, Semaphore possesses a sensual allure that the studied musings of their post-rock peers otherwise lack -- "A Slow," as lugubrious and muted as its title suggests, is also insinuatingly lovely, while the liquid basslines, squawking saxophones and the whispered spoken-word samples of "Lo Fat Diet" evoke a sinister dreaminess. "Lign," which clocks in at just 18 seconds, is in its way the quintessential Fridge moment -- beautiful, hypnotic, but always just out of reach.
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