goldbringer - Solitary Numbers (EP Review)

Feast your ears on this one-man, genre-hopping wizard, mashing up his own brand of intimate Electronica-loaded Rock music, with a sprinkling of Pop on the side for good measure. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the new EP ‘Solitary Numbers’ by South Wales’ own goldbringer.

‘No Comply’ kicks off the EP with its intricate piano refrain and delicate vocal line singing about personal defeat, with a bubbling synth gurgling underneath. It soon swells into a thumping rhythmic backbeat, grabbing the listener with its forceful angst. The song quickly goes into an evil disco stomp, with sinister guitar riffs and a rolling punch of icy keys, keeping you engaged with its chorus of “the new band don’t want me, the old band don’t want me back”. A song which seems to be about taking a stand, going out on your own as a musician and doing things your own way. A message I can fully get behind myself.

Next up is ‘Wormwood’, sliding in gently with its spacious drawls of synth and 90s-like drum sounds. Almost giving off a Porcupine Tree-like texture and vibe to the overall sound and production, which flows quite naturally, especially when the chorus kicks into a confident stranglehold on the listener with its foreboding feel and protesting subject matter. A really cool song, sticking to a more conventional structure rather than transforming into an electro jam session. It’s quite a strength of this EP, as in parallel universe, these songs would all be top 10 hits in a dystopian wasteland of our own doing.

‘Eliminator’ starts like a rare Aphex Twin track, bare-knuckle wrestling with Pendulum, but quickly stands on its own as pure, unadulterated goldbringer. We also get a bit of rap on this track, which contrasts the dark nature of the rest of the song with its rises and drops, blinding lights to pitch black. It’s a mesmerising genre mash-up that grabs you forcefully with its Punk delivery, up against modern Prog-like structural experimentation.

We finish off the EP with ‘EXP’, which is IDM at its finest, with cool jazzy flourishes and its vocal-centric delivery. It’s amazing to think only one person put together so many interesting sounds and styles to create his own personal vision. The guitar solo really sticks out to me; it’s got almost a Björk-like sense of otherworldliness to it, which fills me with a confusing mild dread. A strange way of saying that it’s grabbing me quite emotionally. The use of cheeky synth lines littered through the track, coming and going as they please, is very commendable and really interesting to listen to.

In colcusion, this is a very strong EP from goldbringer. A great way to re-launch himself as a solo Electro auteur who isn’t afraid to try something different. All with a nod back to the music he loves, showcasing quite a menacing aura lying underneath.

Check out the tracks / buy a physical copy of the new EP here ↓

https://goldbringer.bandcamp.com/

Deep Hum - Love 2: The Sequel To Love (Album Review)

It’s been quite a while now since I last reviewed a local music release, but I’m back with a vengeance! What better place to start than the awesome Love 2: The Sequel To Love from electro-psych trio Deep Hum. A band I have been lucky to catch live, listen to and even book shows for over the years, so I made sure to grab myself a physical copy on day one of its release.

The album opens with Walk On grabbing my attention immediately with its hypnotic rhythms and sampling reminiscent of Public Service Broadcasting with a swirl of ominous sitars and guitar wails. The bassline is funky, but this is far from a funk track. It’s a psychotronic jam essentially that is using its haunting melodies and motorik rhythm to tell an evocative story without words. Look! is another track that carries over similar vibes with a wicked synth line and an almost Tom Petty-like guitar tease into something which is more closely related to a band like CAN or Jimi Hendrix if they replaced his brain with a toastie maker. We got a bit of distorted vocals that sit underneath a swell of droning splendour on Statement of Intent which dives into a Squarepusher-like drum assault. This album has a very distinct sound and approach which aren't your typical song structures, these are more like epiphanies for a desolate sci-fi fantasy movie that was never allowed to be made. I dig it a lot!

There is an ambiguous concept running throughout the album based around the topic of love and The Story Of Love starts to glue it together with a lengthy monologue from our album’s protagonist. I don’t want to give too much away as this is an album I feel needs to be listened to as one cohesive piece of work rather than one song at a time, but I will do my best to dissect things as best as I can as we continue regardless. Love Jam kicks back up the funky flavour that dissipates into an infections dub bass line and those gorgeous sitar sounds sailing overhead.  The longest track on the album packs in as much spiralling sound experimentation as it possibly can, the same with the next track, June Lover which introduces some flamenco-styled guitar over a percussive backbeat. Soon kicking back into an aggressive '90s baggy-esque play-about.

Snaresmusher with its great name harks back to what I said earlier about a certain electronic wizard signed to Warp Records and does its job well with those otherworldly textures and synthstrumentation. We continue with Kingdom of Love and it’s dedication to being as frantic as it is calm and unnerving in equal measure, finishing off with the confident tumble and spacious elegance of Squircle, the song with a playfully eerie vocal line as the electronics levitate in the background.

Overall, this is an experience. An album made with enough precision and care that it sounds like a band who are simultaneously existing in the past, present and future all at once. If you like your '60s psychedelia as well as late '90s IDM with a flair for aural invention, you’ll find nowhere better than this new release from these South Wales-based sonic auteurs.

Check out the album here ↓

https://bramblescram.bandcamp.com/album/love-2-the-sequel-to-love

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Also, please check out this fantastic live session they did recently for Shonk Session's first episode:

- The KEXP of South Wales underground musicians