Review Electronic music Jazz

GoGo Penguin

Necessary Fictions

Xxim • 2025

In the late 1980s, the so-called Madchester scene injected a healthy dose of dance energy into guitar pop. Today, the northern English city sends out a similar impulse for jazz — if what the trio GoGo Penguin has been doing since their founding in 2012 can still be called jazz at all. Pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka, and drummer Jon Scott — who joined in 2021 — blend bass-driven grooves with electronic textures and elements of modern classical music into a rhythmically demanding yet melodically permeable sound.

Their tenth studio album brings a few new developments. For two tracks, the band enlisted the Manchester Collective, a chamber ensemble led by violinist Rakhi Singh. Modular synthesizers also emerge more clearly this time. Still, the GoGo Penguin signature remains intact: driving, highly dynamic, structurally precise. From the opening track »Umbra« to the technoid pulse of »Fallowfield Loops,« the trio demonstrates how seamlessly piano, electric bass, and percussive detail interlock. At one point, the latter is even replaced by a double bass, adding welcome tension to the mix.

The repetitive clarity of their arrangements is offset by intricate details, making From the North an engaging listen even away from the dancefloor. At the same time, much of the music feels calming, hypnotic — especially the closing track »Silence Speaks,« which reads like an invitation to stillness. A fitting endpoint for an album that confidently navigates between minimalism, groove, and introspective expression.

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