Harvey Causon’s restless curiosity has long been the force behind his deft and infectious sound. Since he was a child, music has been a way for him to explore and untangle the world around him, a raw form of communication to distil complex theories into mesmerising tracks.

 

Breaking through Bristol's ever-experimental music scene with his first releases in 2017, Causon has built a reputation as an artist with a truly singular voice and songwriting ability. The singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist's slew of EPs – including ‘Vertebrae’ and ‘Fourth Wall’ - have been championed by BBC Radio 1, 6 Music, NME, DIY, Clash, Metal and Notion. They build electronic landscapes with an almost-scientific lyric-craft that vibrate with a deep emotional resonance.

 

Square Breath, his debut album, was born out of a desire to tell a larger story. The collection of songs have been crafted over a number of years, with many collaborators in various locations, before being honed in East London. Across the 13 tracks, this graceful, atmospheric record brims with shifting ambient textures, underscored by skittering grooves. These earthy, glistening foundations lay under Harvey’s stream-of-consciousness lyrics, which explore both the macro and microcosms of modern day life.

 

The album’s name reflects that, since he was a child, Causon noticed that when he is anxious or inspired, he breathes in a ‘square motion’. This at-times-heightened, at-times-meditative state weaves throughout the album. The walls of Harvey’s mind can close claustrophobically in around you, his anxieties on everything from the worsening climate crisis and our increasing tech-dependency to a slowly-ending long term-relationship are laid bare. But these walls also explode outwards, exposing his highly-attentive and unique vision of the world, unearthing new-found hope over a blend off-kilter R&B, sparse ambience, and soaring electronics. 

 

This body of work is inspired by movement as much as music. “When writing, I think of music like a 4D box. I imagine people or granular atoms being swished around by the textures.” During the writing process, Harvey invited dancers into his studio, seeing how they moved to his songs and tweaking his compositions to their flow. He continues to work with movement in his hypnotising array of music videos, partnering with directors and choreographers such as Folu Odimayo, Kat Collings and Katie Scott. 

 

This collaborative approach extended to the music composition itself, with a rotating cast of friends – including long-time collaborator Gabriel Gifford, Scottish choreographer and composer Magnus Westwell, his live band members Robert Dixon (pka ZUU) and Christina Lopez– adding a warm palette of strings, brass, and backing vocals to give the album a richness and sense of space that sets it apart from Harvey’s previous work.

 

Despite this picture of community and collaboration, Square Breath’s power hinges just as much on Harvey's inner life. The lead single ‘Psycho’ has a punching, bass-driven riff which propels the track forward as Causon details his struggles with creativity itself and how forced competition between artists in capitalism kills true art. The song tightens and tightens, before a release of cascading synths – signalling Causon’s ego-death as he is able to free himself creatively without the constraints of his own inhibitions and frustrations. ‘Picking Up Smoke’ similarly details Harvey’s often destructive compulsion to create, staying up in the studio till 7am and burning out. Ultimately, both songs culminate in moments of freedom and optimism as Harvey learns to let go, see the wider picture, and reintegrate into the community he gains so much inspiration from. It is these bright moments of clarity that makes Square Breath such a rewarding listen. 

 

The Fourth track on the album ‘Folklore’ asks what kind of stories will be told about us in the future if we continue on our ecologically destructive path, similarly ‘Laminar Flow’ and ‘Myelin’ peak with frustration at our increasingly shortening attention spans. ‘Nostalgia’ meanwhile reflects on the regurgitative nature of AI and the loss of interest in the nuances of human creativity.

 

Later on, we see fragments of relationships broken apart by distance with the devastating ‘Impasse’, urges for male friends to open up more, and love starting to blossom. Delivered via Harvey’s rich and soulful voice, this is him at his most direct and vulnerable, getting everything off his chest and ripping away confines.

 

Square Breath is a distillation of Harvey’s journey so far; a highly ambitious, fluid and extraordinary album that both tackles his innermost anxieties while celebrating the joy of community. It is a breathtakingly complex yet immediate body of work which cements his position as one of British music’s brightest sparks.