Safety Scissors is the recording name for Minneapolis native Matthew Patterson Curry. From San Francisco to Berlin, he has been moving around the world to follow his fascination with making music. These days he’s landed in Brooklyn, the current epicenter for all things musically creative. When you take into account Curry’s adeptness with techno and experimental electronica, it really only seems fitting to continue on with his Safety Scissors project from this location.
On his third album, In A Manner Of Sleeping, he continues to evolve from his minimal, ambient techno foundation into an electronic album that varies nicely and eloquently from track to track. Rarely treading the same ground, “The Floor” uses both male and female vocals with an undeniably ’80s feel. “You Will Find Me” is a great Postal Service-style pop tune and could easily be the tune that people latch onto. “18 Hours” takes an unexpected turn and is a straight up R&B tune. “Somnambulance” is a full on video game style tune with endless bleeps and bloops. Offering even more variety, Curry includes four instrumentals. The languid and eerie opener “Moving Light” and the more adventurous closer “Second Story” are the two best ones, both of which are calming, almost to the point of sounding therapeutic, and even a little haunting, too.
Altogether, this disc is artistic and unorthodox; for the pop fans, it’s easy to find intrigue in tracks like “Gemini,” while those with an ear for the unconventional will find much to enjoy in the blurry instrumental “Lemon Scented Moist Pillowette.” Glitchy but with plenty of guitar and synth, whether the instrumentation is busy or minimal, Safety Scissors has produced a dreamy, soothing listen that certainly at times could be a precursor to a night of good sleep. However, Curry’s strong sense of pop dynamics and well thought out lyrics also command your attention, as the melodic textures and contemplative atmospheres could never reside anywhere near slumber’s grasp.
