Atlas by Robin Guthrie (Review)

When Guitar Player ran a feature on Robin Guthrie in their February 1991 issue, it no doubt raised some eyebrows. After all, Guthrie’s name doesn’t readily come to mind when one thinks of “guitar legend.” And yet, that’s precisely what he is. For over 40 years, be it with Cocteau Twins or his various collaborations and solo recordings, Guthrie has established an approach to the guitar that’s unmistakable for anyone else’s, no matter how many copycats, devotees, and pretenders to the throne emerge from behind their pedalboards.

Thus, when I say that Guthrie’s latest, the four-song Atlas EP, sounds exactly like what you’d expect from a Robin Guthrie release, that’s not a criticism. Rather, it remains a continual source of comfort to dive into the languid pools of sound that Guthrie coaxes from his six-strings.

Part of Guthrie’s genius is that he doesn’t let his songs, for all their dreaminess, stretch any longer than they need to, but rather, keeps them short and sweet — and all the more alluring and haunting as a result. Listen to how “Without a Word” ends in an unresolved fashion that tugs at your heartstrings, its shimmering guitar notes left to echo into the silence. Meanwhile, the preceding song, “Metropol,” sounds like it’d be perfectly at home in Michael Mann’s next urban tale thanks to its forlorn guitar tones and trace piano melodies.

Some artists seek to constantly evolve and reinvent themselves with each new release, lending their catalog a chameleon-like nature. By and large, Guthrie has taken the opposite approach, patiently and slowly diving even further into his trademark sound to find new depths and subtleties. It’s an approach that, as Atlas’ four songs reveal, continues to return rich musical rewards even after more than four decades.