Ultravisitor

The idea that Ultravisitor is Squarepusher’s most serious and sincere album is supported by the cover art: an unadorned portrait of Tom Jenkinson staring impassively at the camera as if to say, “I have nothing to hide.” Jenkinson had long employed his jazz chops (on bass, drums, and keyboards), but never with the nakedness of “I Fulcrum,” “Tommib Help Buss," and “Andrei.” The last refers to Andrei Volkonsky, one of many composers Jenkinson cited in an interview before the album’s release. He said that Ultravisitor "brings to mind all the problematic figures that I have loved endlessly and yet remain as unknown to me as the first time I came across them.” His interest in avant-garde and classical composition is more pronounced on Ultravisitor, and many of the titles contain references to science and engineering. Whether with the quiet chamber music of “Every Day I Love,” the abstract noise of “Telluric Piece,” or the heavy metal electronica of “Steinbolt,” this is an album in which you can feel Jenkinson communicating with past generations of ambitious artists and thinkers.