7/10

When Aphex Twin returned after more than a decade away in 2014 with his album 'SYRO', there were two things that people kept mentioning about it. It was either too much like his old material or not enough. While it would seem odd to have two completely conflicting opinions about that record, it makes sense when you consider to volume and diversity of his work in the past. Some remember his downright bonkers compositions and others his more lucid tracks, and it is this juxtaposition of image that makes him such an admirable producer.

'Cheetah' however seems to sit somewhere in the middle-ground of his chosen direction. Most of the tracks seem to follow this pattern of minimal techno that Aphex Twin has been known to prefer in his DJ sets recently. It appears that the sheer bombastic experimentation of electronics has been left off much of this release in exchange for a collection of tracks that wouldn't seem out of place at Berghain in the early hours of the morning.

While his fans will certainly lap this up, it is something that even the most musically timid could enjoy. An extremely accessible release given his background and certainly a welcome return once again for this leftfield icon.