Occupying the nocturnal space between the poignant maximalism of Tim Buckley & the codeine beats of Mount Kimbie, Cloud Boat aka British duo Sam Ricketts & Tom Clarke bring a gorgeously original & soulful new slant to electronica with “Wanderlust/Drean” the new double A-Side single from their upcoming debut LP. The first time we heard of Cloud Boat was with their R&S single “Lions On the Beach” a slice of folk-spliced 2-step electronica, shimmering & swooning in all the right places. Making the short hop from R&S to the reactivated sister label Apollo seems a natural progression as their music continues the lineage of classic, experimental records from the likes of Aphex Twin, Mark Van Hoen & Biosphere. The easy place to go is emotion – warm, richly expressive vocals ebb & flow beautifully over haunting lyrics but the music as a whole signifies anything but easy listening. The instrumentation surrounding it is equal parts sparse experimental yet powerfully resonant from the humid beats to Ricketts’ languidly affecting guitar licks pointing as much to the future as it does to past greats like Steve Reich & Philip Jeck. Ultimately for what can ostensibly be classified as electronic music this double A-Side single is a delicate intimate affair, a beautifully sustained exercise in mood & tension & far more precious & intriguing a record than most others right now.