It’s a bit hard to pin down how to best file Seefeel’s debut album. Is it shoegaze? Drum n’ bass? Techno? Ambient? Dub? The answer, of course, is a simple “Yes.” Working with engineer Mark Van Hoen (of Locust fame), the London group created a diaphanous sound highlighted by a seamless blend of wispy guitars, Sarah Peacock’s dreamy vocals, and industrial percussion.

Subsequent albums like 1995’s Succour and 1996’s (CH-VOX) saw them moving into darker sonics à la Aphex Twin and Autechre. But on Quique, Seefeel kept things dreamy, thanks to “Climactic Phase No. 3” and “Imperial”’s swirling atmospherics. As befitting its name, “Industrious” evokes the sound of futuristic assembly lines with its locked-in beats.

However, it’s on songs like “Charlotte’s Mouth,” “Through You,” and “Signals” that Mark Clifford and his bandmates achieve something truly remarkable, and dare I say, sensual, with gracefully unfurling sounds that blur the lines between synths and effects-laden guitars. “Through You” is particularly effective in this regard, unfolding at a slow-motion pace to slowly envelop and embrace the listener.

Back in 2006, Khoi Vinh wrote about his love for Quique, and his reliance on it for writing: “I can actually design to just about anything playing on the radio or television, but when I need to form sentences and string them into coherent paragraphs, I’m almost duty-bound to put this album on and turn up the volume.” Over the years, Quique has become one of my go-to albums for those times when I need to lock in, focus, and get work done, be it blogging, coding, or designing in Photoshop.