An audible rise in the hum of anticipation and a sudden surge towards the exit of the smoking area could mean only one thing: Jape had finally taken to the stage of the Button Factory...
And it was clear to all from the delivery of first track 'Answers Me Before I
Ask' that this anticipation would not be in vain. An uncompromisingly powerful track, there was nothing apologetic about this start to the set. Jape (or Richie Egan as his Mother calls him) welcomed the already buzzing crowd warmly and his own excitement could be heard as he introduced his band.
From here on out the tone was set, and each track was greeted with whoops and whistles from a crowd that seemed to need no converting. While it's undoubtedly 2004's loved-up, tripped out chant 'Floating' that is the most commonly-known and revered of Jape's work to date, there has been a hell of a lot going on since and 2008's album 'Ritual' is testament to that. If capturing the fan's interest of "Floating" was the aim of the game here then "I was a Man" in particular stands out as a contender to throne, but there is much more besides.
The winding of electronics around man-made sounds continues with possibly even greater prominence on the majority of newer tracks, but somehow the more acoustic led pieces don't sit amiss next to the dancier numbers. There is no bowing to categorisation here and no talent being spread thinly either. Egan seems to find a balance between the sound of hedonism and the weekday... moving seamlessly up, down, over and between the emotional soundscapes created.
If the release of 'Floating' four years ago signalled the bursting of some sort of creative dam for Egan then we are now deep within its flooding waters. The question for those watching will be how this all develops... and it's because of this interest that the next album is already eagerly awaited.
If this new work and his summer festival appearances don't prove we still have much more to hear from Richie Egan, then I'll eat my hypothetical hat. No pressure so…
