Redshape Throw In Dirt / The Land

Major moves from Martyns and Erosies 3024 imprint who have enlisted Berlin’s Redshape for their latest release. A-Side ‘Throw In Dirt’ opens with vintage drum machines locked into a stooped groove as hi-hats spark off the top while a heavily filtered and pitched vocal loop offers dead eyed encouragement. An improbably girthsome analogue bass line curdles almost to the point of sinister before an unambiguously menacing fog of whining synths starts to descend while kick, snare & hats spark and simmer off one another. At the tracks peak another unsettlingly simple melody is played out on keys, before the whole ensemble rumbles over the horizon. After such an oppressive opener, ‘The Land’ is a noticeable change of pace. A horizon spanning kick underpins gospel’ish vocal snatches as the familiar hissing of synthesized cymbals shifts and builds on top of bass that’s more shudder than line. As these elements coil tighter around one another chiming pads build gradually, until the cymbal rush is momentarily halted, before redoubling it’s efforts as the synths become increasingly turbulent. A sudden shift into brighter chords and the arrival of some understated 808 textures push the track further into machine gospel territory and towards a resolution.