Four Tet

Four Tet is the solo name used by Kieran Hebden, a musician from Putney, London, born in 1977. He uses the project to distinguish his electronic work from his activity with the post-rock band Fridge. His music draws on sampling from hip-hop, electronica, techno, jazz and folk, often combined with his own guitar playing. It is also associated with computer-based editing techniques and a cut-up, staccato feel, alongside rich, organic textures, melodic writing and a move away from conventional pop-song structures.

Early releases and albums

Hebden begins releasing music as Four Tet in 1998 with the 36-minute single Thirtysixtwentyfive on Trevor Jackson’s Output Recordings. Later that year he issues the jazz-influenced single Misnomer. His first full-length album, Dialogue (1999), also appears on Output and combines hip-hop drum patterns with dissonant jazz samples. It is followed by the double A-side single Glasshead/Calamine, which is his final release for the label.

In 2001, Four Tet releases Pause on Domino. This album uses more folk and electronic samples and becomes closely associated with the term “folktronica”, used to describe a style also applied to artists such as Isan, Gravenhurst and some later work by Canabrism. The acoustic guitar piece Everything Is Alright becomes the theme music for the NPR talk show On Point, produced at WBUR in Boston, and also appears in US Nike and Sony Bravia commercials.

Rounds follows in 2003 and is described as his most ambitious album at that point. It includes a wide range of samples, from mandolin on Spirit Fingers to a rubber duck on Slow Jam. The album produces the singles She Moves She, As Serious as Your Life and My Angel Rocks Back and Forth. That last release also appears as an EP with remixes by Icarus and Isambard Khroustaliov, plus the extra tracks I’ve Got Viking in Me and All the Chimers. An accompanying DVD gathers his videos to that point.

Collaborations and remixes

At the start of 2003, Four Tet supports Radiohead on their European tour. He also remixes Scatterbrain from Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief, and that version appears on the band’s 2004 EP COM LAG (2plus2isfive). In 2004, he releases the limited live album Live in Copenhagen 30th March 2004 through Domino’s website.

In 2005, Four Tet performs improvised shows with jazz drummer Steve Reid in Paris and London, and appears on the Steve Reid Ensemble album Spirit Walk. This partnership continues through international touring and two collaborative albums, The Exchange Session Vol. 1 and The Exchange Session Vol. 2, issued across 2005 and 2006. His fourth studio album, Everything Ecstatic, comes out on Domino in 2005 and moves towards a darker, more complex sound than the earlier folktronica-leaning records. The lead single is Smile Around The Face, whose video features Mark Heap. Domino also issues a DVD edition of the album with video clips for each track and a CD of new material.

Under the Four Tet name, Hebden also remixes tracks by a wide range of artists including Madvillain, Bloc Party, Super Furry Animals, Beth Orton, Badly Drawn Boy, The Notwist, Boom Bip, Kings of Convenience, Explosions in the Sky, Radiohead and Doves. His work is commonly placed within electronic, IDM, experimental, electronica, club, dance, downtempo and dubstep contexts.