Ushered in with an entrancing piano melody, "Nuesta Señora" swells into a stately, orchestral-ambient setting in a mere five-minute running time. Strings, phase-treated guitars, piano, and glockenspiels merge into a slow-moving mass of ponderous character, while softly pulsating bass lines lend heft to the whirring electronic streams and melodic fragments that flow through the second original, "Bell Deconstruction." The EP's jewel is "Me, But Perfect (Glossolalia mix)" which intensifies the original version with open-hearted emotion and drama by layering vocals, so yearning they verge on ecstatic, over a thick stirring mass of electronics, piano, and glockenspiels. With the original's beats entirely removed, the update firmly locates the Engine7 sound within Sigur Rós territory. Finally, the iridescence of "Sunrise, Catalonia (Costa Brava mix)" is as blinding as light reflecting off the ocean on a summer's day; something close to ecstasy is achieved in this also-beatless and sun-dappled drone treatment.
This is twenty minutes of beatless music that conjours up blue skies, blazing sun, white sand and turquoise sea. The opening track has a lengthy fade in of piano arpeggios before opening out into a broad lush panorama of the kind that Moby used to be good at. The Glossolalia remix of "Me, But Perfect" ditches the cracked beats of the original in favour of a balearic chill-out anthem, laden with overdubbed and filtered vocal chorus. The final two tracks are drone-heavy. "Bell Deconstruction" is a rich soup of backward loops (possibly ringtones mashed up unrecognisably), that has subtle shifts in texture in a barely-altering structure. "Sunrise Catalonia" in its new form is also based on a sustained, unwavering synth chord, with bleeps and mixed voices making it sound like the Animal Collective go Ibiza.
‘This is absolutely bloody wonderful…an album that wraps you in its arms and promises never to let you down - this is music to grow up with.’ (Music-News.com)
‘Now this is what they refer to in the old country as the dogs bollocks.’ (Losing Today.com)
‘Rich and textured with sounds both jarring and sweeping (even a little non-lyrical pulsing vocal work to boot) make this top shelf material for the NLP library this year. Right down to the so-true-it-hurts album title, Engine7 proves that it really is okay to get a little emo with computer music.’ (NowLikePhotographs.com)
‘Aside from Engine7‘s accomplished execution of its material, Me, But Perfect stands out even more for the balance the band brings to pristine arrangements that manage to be full-bodied but not at the expense of clarity.’ (Textura.org)
‘It seems praise from the likes of Sigur Ros and Julien Neto is not unwarranted, as this album is an outstanding piece of contemporary, melodic, up-tempo electronica.’ (Angryape.com)
‘With stirring guitar work, stunningly beautiful vocals and lovely washes of atmospheric electronic textures, this album belongs on iPods and players everywhere. It’s a cracker of a debut.’ (Reverb Magazine)
‘…much of this record takes the form of gorgeous, melodic lullabies; electronically-laced lullabies that is.’ (Angryape.com)
‘There’s a real sense of depth and accomplishment to McNeill’s sound, which on pieces like ‘Hive Mind’ boasts a combination of layered electronics, synth strings and IDM era beats, resulting in an unexpectedly filmic outcome.’ (Boomkat.com)
‘Engine7 builds the atmosphere expertly with glitchy electronics joined by integrated piano chords then orchestral strings. Before long you find yourself carried by its absorbing melodicism.’ (Barcode Zine)
‘There is a definite summer feel to the album. The opener, and only vocal track, “Sunrise, Catalonia” would fit perfectly on one of the near legendary Café Del Mar pre-club Ibiza compilations of the mid nineties. The title track is a fantastic meld of cracked beats, soaring strings, fuzzy guitars and music-box melody. The stunning “Path of Least Resistance” is lazy, sweeping and sun-drenched. There are contrasting, darker hues, too. “Tempertantrum”, with its shades of prime period Orbital, ups the tempo considerably, while the sombre, glitchy beats of “Nichts” and the fuzz-drone feedback-rich “Glitches” strike a marked contrast to the generally sunny air of the album. McNeill seldom puts a foot wrong on Me, But Perfect, but the 10.08am to 2.46pm period is especially good.’ (Music Musings And Miscellany)