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The second International Observer album, Heard, is not your typical electronic dub long player, and its creator has spent well over 25 years in hot pursuit of an artistic expression that stimulates and satisfies and in this case, reaches towards the sublime. The post-punk foment of the late '70s embroiled Tom Bailey (aka International Observer) in an anarchic scene that ultimately gave birth to his 'pop experiment', the Thompson Twins. Despite massive chart success, getting stuck in a pop paradigm proved a nightmare for Tom, who - in his spare time - was delving into the infinite sonic, subterranean depths of dub, developing his passion for the visual arts, and working his way to an in-depth study of the works of classical music innovator, JS Bach. During the '80s he also worked with reggae legends Sly & Robbie, and Lee Perry, as well as contributing his considerable keyboard skills to the likes of Grace Jones and Foreigner, and producing/writing hits for former Blondie diva Debbie Harry. And as that beleaguered decade played out , Tom's ambient/tech duo, Babble was getting caned in the hippest New York clubs. Next thing, he upped and moved to the ends of the earth - New Zealand - where his long-held dream of making his own, unique dub sounds were set to 'slowly evolve'. Heard is the second International Observer long-player, and one that bookends Tom's time in NZ, India and the UK by presenting an on-stage set pretty much the way it goes down live (and anyone who has seen IO perform at the Big Chill or elsewhere will know that's a beautiful thing). While Tom continues a myriad of endeavours including film soundtracks, production works and the ongoing Holiwater Project, International Observer's Heard is an original take on dub that's able to blow bass bins and minds alike.

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