SCORCHER is a gritty experimental electronic adventure through post-urban grime and decay.
The album opens unassuming, but soon we hear part of a kick drum rhythm slide into place. The atmosphere slowly builds, wavering in and out of dissonance as the percussion gradually becomes more complex. It's as if we're on a malfunctioning assembly line slowly trying to put the pieces together for an industrial techno groove without managing to fit everything together.
Track 2, Bug Balm picks up on this feeling with a gradually rising dark acid bass line. The bass grows into a frenzy before eventually cutting off abruptly. As before, we're never allowed to sink fully into the comfort of dance, left instead with only a reminder of a thriving society.
The album proceeds to explore a gritty, industrial soundscape, taking us through abandoned buildings littered with rusty nails, isolated claustrophobic tunnels, and empty roads surrounded by crumbling architecture.
In track 7, Squid Crow Pro, the atmosphere shifts. With soft ethereal tones ringing out, a drum groove heard from a distant portable radio, and an ominous but comparatively friendly bass line, we find ourselves now in an oasis. Perhaps the water here is free from the pollution of the tunnels. The space is decorated with soft green moss and little mushrooms. Streaks of light shining through cracks in the roof illuminate stark bands of airborne dust.
This moment of safety and comfort is of course only temporary. The final track, Strange Rangebow brings us once again into the dark. Whirring mechanisms above dominate the background. A pipe periodically excretes pressurized grime, and an incessant tapping grows into a catastrophic pounding.
Despite what the description above might suggest, this album lends itself surprisingly well to thought. While much of the album demands your attention, there are scattered segments where that attention is allowed to rest. While the abrasive textures of the album easily could have made the experience exhausting to get through, this push and pull does a good job at circumventing listening fatigue, while contributing to a genuine sense of adventure.