Hebden's solo work typically utilises samples lifted from various sources including hip-hop, electronica, techno, jazz, and folk mixed with his own guitar playing. Four Tet shares some stylistic similarities with other musicians, such as Prefuse 73, who use computer editing techniques that give the music a staccato, cut-up feel. Hebden's music is notable for its rich, organic sounds and harmonious melodies as well as for eschewing the traditional pop-song format in favour of a more abstract approach.
Kieran Hebden began releasing material as Four Tet in 1998 with the 36 minute and 25 second single "Thirtysixtwentyfive" on Trevor Jackson's Output Recordings label. Later that year, he released a second single, the jazz-influenced "Misnomer". 1999's "Dialogue", again on Output, was Four Tet's first full-length album release and fused hip-hop drum lines with dissonant jazz samples. This was followed by the double A-side single "Glasshead"/"Calamine", which was to be Four Tet's last release on Output.
In late 1999, Warp Records released a tenth-anniversary compilation of remixes of Warp tracks; Hebden contributed a remix of "Cliffs", the opening track of Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II". This relatively high profile exposure attracted a lot of new interest in Four Tet from fans of electronica and IDM, genres in which the Warp brand had a preeminent status.
In 2001, Four Tet's second album "Pause" was released on Domino and found Hebden using more folk and electronic samples, which was quickly dubbed "folktronica" by the media & press in an attempt to label the style (often also applied to artists such as Isan, Gravenhurst and some of Canabrism's later work). The acoustic guitar track "Everything Is Alright" is the theme music for the National Public Radio talk show On Point, produced at WBUR in Boston, Massachusetts; it was also featured in a US Nike commercial in 2001-2002 and in the Sony Bravia commercial in 2005.
"Rounds" was released in May 2003. It was Hebden's most ambitious album to date, incorporating diverse samples such as the mandolin on "Spirit Fingers", and even a rubber duck on the closing track "Slow Jam". Three singles were released from the album: "She Moves She", "As Serious as Your Life", and "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth". This last single was released as an EP featuring remixes by electronica duo Icarus and Isambard Khroustaliov along with additional Four Tet tracks "I've Got Viking in Me" and "All the Chimers". An accompanying DVD featured all of Four Tet's videos to date.
At the beginning of 2003, Four Tet opened for Radiohead on their European tour. A remix of the song Scatterbrain from Radiohead's latest album "Hail to the Thief" was included on their 2004 EP "COM LAG (2plus2isfive)".
A live album named "Live in Copenhagen 30th March 2004" was released in April 2004 as a limited edition, available only through the Domino Records website.
In March and April of 2005, Four Tet performed two shows of improvisational music, in collaboration with jazz drummer Steve Reid, in Paris and London. He also appears on Steve Reid Ensemble 2005 album "Spirit Walk". This collaboration was extended into a series of international tours, and the release of two albums, "The Exchange Session Vol. 1" and "The Exchange Session Vol. 2" over the course of 2005 and 2006.
His fourth studio album "Everything Ecstatic" was released on Domino on 23 May 2005. The video for the lead single, "Smile Around The Face", features actor Mark Heap. The album brought with it another shift in style, leaving behind the breezy "folktronica" of "Pause" and "Rounds" for a darker, more complex sound. On 7 November 2005, Domino has released a DVD version of "Everything Ecstatic" featuring video clips for each track of the album plus a CD with new material.
Hebden has also remixed, under the Four Tet name, 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.
101112
Four Tet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You could be anyone today
Maybe I will recognize you on a crowded street
Maybe you′ll take me by surprise
Will you be the one I had in mind?
There'll come a day
Face to face
Like I'm imagining
Baby, how can I be sure
That you're the one I′m waiting for?
Will you be
Unmistakable?
People say, "Watch a knife through a glass"
Desperately waiting on a chance
I know you′re out there, holding on, holding out for me
And are we gonna know the time is right?
What if you're here and I′m just blind?
There'll come a day
When you′ll walk out of my dreams
Face to face
Like I'm imagining
Baby, how can I be sure
That you′re the one I'm waiting for?
Will you be
Unmistakable?
How can I know a song I've never heard?
How will I know your voice when you haven′t said a word?
How do I know how this will end?
Before we begin (before we begin)
There′ll come a day
When you'll walk out of my dreams
Face to face (face to face)
Like I′m imagining (like I'm imagining)
Baby, how can I be sure (how can I be sure)
That you′re the one I'm waiting for? (You′re the one I'm waiting for?)
Will you be (will you be) (will you be)
Will you be (will you be)
Unmistakable?
Unmistakable?
The lyrics of Four Tet's song "101112" explore the themes of anticipation and uncertainty in a relationship. The first part of the song acknowledges the possibility of meeting somebody at any moment, anywhere, and realizing that they could be anyone, even a stranger on a crowded street. The singer wonders if this person will take them by surprise and if the encounter will live up to their expectations.
The chorus emphasizes the idea that there will come a day when they will finally meet in person, face to face, like the singer imagines in their dreams. However, doubt still lingers, and the singer questions whether the person they're waiting for is truly the one for them. The second verse introduces the idea of waiting and hoping for somebody, even if it means watching a knife through a glass, implying a sense of urgency and desperation.
The repetition of the word "unmistakable" in the chorus signals the singer's desire for clarity and certainty in their relationship. They wonder how they can be sure that the person they're waiting for is the right one, how they will recognize them, and how they will know how it will end. The song ends with the chorus, leaving the question of whether their long-awaited meeting will be "unmistakable" unanswered.
Line by Line Meaning
Anytime, anywhere, any place
I am always searching for you, no matter where I go or what time it is.
You could be anyone today
I don't know what you look like or who you are, so you could be anyone.
Maybe I will recognize you on a crowded street
Even though I don't know what you look like, I still hope to recognize you when we meet.
Maybe you’ll take me by surprise
I am open to being surprised by how we meet and how we fall in love.
Will you be the one I had in mind?
I have a picture of what I want in my head, and I hope you match that picture.
There'll come a day when you’ll walk out of my dreams
I have been dreaming about finding you, and one day you will become a reality.
Face to face, like I’m imagining
When we finally meet, it will be just like I have been imagining in my dreams.
Baby, how can I be sure that you're the one I'm waiting for?
I am uncertain if you are the one I have been searching for, but I hope you are.
Will you be unmistakable?
Will you be so perfect for me that it is unmistakable that we are meant to be?
People say, 'Watch a knife through a glass'
Others caution me to be careful and guarded about love, like watching a knife through glass.
Desperately waiting on a chance
I am eagerly and anxiously waiting for the chance to find true love with someone special.
I know you're out there, holding on, holding out for me
I have faith that you are also waiting for me and hoping to find love with me someday.
And are we gonna know the time is right?
I am uncertain if we will be able to tell when the right time is for us to meet and fall in love.
What if you're here and I'm just blind?
I worry that you may already be in my life, but I am too blind to see that you are the one I have been waiting for.
How can I know a song I’ve never heard?
I struggle with the uncertainty of finding love, and it feels like trying to recognize a song I've never heard before.
How will I know your voice when you haven’t said a word?
I am uncertain of how I will recognize you or know you are the one I have been waiting for.
How do I know how this will end?
I am uncertain of how our love story will end, but I still have hope and faith that it will end happily.
Before we begin (before we begin)
Before we start our love story together, I still have questions and doubts that need to be resolved.
Will you be unmistakable?
I repeat this line again because finding someone perfect for me is so important and uncertain.
Writer(s): Daniel Muckala, Adam Anders, Nicole Hassman
Contributed by Makayla A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
beans
My favourite of his fabric live deffo