If this album were a person, it would be smart but incredibly lazy. It has so much potential that is never quite realised. British musician Tim Exile, aka Tim Shaw, has been described as forward-thinking but you wouldn’t know it from Listening Tree. The elements that are described as forward-thinking are more annoying than anything else – overdone percussion thrown on top of stilted singing makes it hard to enjoy this album.

 

Many tracks begin nicely only to be destroyed by excessive and out-of-time drums once it hits the one-minute mark. ‘Pay Tomorrow’ is a good example, beginning with a Latin guiro and some simply pretty synth, but ending as a weird mash of techno sounds. This is dark and moody electro for sure, but it misses the mark. It has the same feel as The Presets but nowhere near the same execution.