Electronic-Ish with James Blake, King Krule, & Sewerslvt: EP Reviews

Now that I'm done undergoing the album rush leading up to my mid-year list video, it's time to cover some EPs that I've been neglecting in the past few weeks and there's three big ones we need to talk about first. 

CMYK 002 EP - James Blake

Having a "favorite" artist feels like an emotional distinction, to me at least. But if you look at my entire output as a critic it's hard to identify any single artist I've directed more praise towards than James Blake. That's come from numerous albums he's dropped both as they're released and in retrospect as well as numerous singles and shorter projects that have been equally as satisfying. In fact, the last time he indulged in the EP format with new original material came on 2020's Before, a stroke of absolute brilliance that is still among my favorite EPs of this entire decade. 

So its no surprise that I was pretty excited for this surprise drop and spoiler alert, I like it. That's right out of the gate with Let Her Know a song whose punchy drums erupt straight out of the dancefloor. It's then surrounded in this murky demeanor backed by Blake's warbling pitched-up vocals effects and infectious refrains. That's a high-contrast from the project's finale Foreign. The song does have a dance beat laced underneath everything but compositionally it gets a James Blake-ification that keeps it far from settling into the kind of groove you might expect from a song that sounds like this. 

The fullest indulgence into the world of club and dance music comer on the fittingly titles Dream (Move My Feet). The song, unsurprisingly, is a vibrant and dancy cut with intermittent vocal flourishes predominantly built a pulsating industrial instrumental that feels a bit Two Shell at points. While were on the subject of club music, Don't Co-Write follows and it really feels like the most pure "CMYK" outing here. From the rumbling bass notes to distortion-tinged drums and even the blown-out looping vocal samples everything about the song feels surprisingly EDM parallel, though never that shallow. While this EP is not necessarily as unrelenting as dance music, it does manage to adopt some of Blake's unique stylistic intrigue into the folds of its sound. What results is a solid project that doesn't exactly see him at the peak of his sound, but flexing some serious versatility nonetheless. 7/10

SHHHHHHH! EP - King Krule

I've just never been on the same page as King Krule fans. In 2017 he released his most acclaimed album The OOZ, a record that just did not translate anything special to me when I heard it at the time and hasn't particularly clicked that much more since. Most recently, Archy shared Space Heavy last year and while I liked the record a bit, it wasn't anywhere near that level of admiration he got for it from most fans. The funny part is, in between these two records he shared Man Alive! in 2020. While it's his least beloved album by far among his 4 projects to date, it's also my favorite by a pretty large margin. That meant that I came into this new surprise-released EP really not sure what to expect or how strongly to expect it. 

 One of the most notable things about the EP right out of the gate is a punchier demeanor than either of Archy's last two albums could carry consistently. Calling your opener Achtung! is certainly an evocative choice when your primary fanbase is music nerds, though what specifically he's seeking to evoke from it isn't exactly clear through its thick sauntering haze. Much clearer is the second song Time For Surp. With the benefit of taking a while to review the EP I know that this is the breakout song and it's really easy to see why. It delivers a thick driving bassline and wiry guitar leads that all perfectly punctuate a retro post-punk poise that I like a lot. 

The final two songs on the record are much more familiar for King Krule fans. They both represent a slowing down of the pace and demeanor of the EP. First is Whalesong which isn't exactly quiet but it also certainly isn't loud. The song has something closer to a ballad approach though it still manages to deliver that swallowing feeling a good King Krule song does. Speaking of swallowing, closing track It's All Soup Now sounds like it's fighting just to be heard with Archy's vocals feeling like he's singing from the inside of a black hole. The extremely slow pace and ultimate eruption across the final 30 seconds of the song proper makes for a pretty satisfying combo. In fact, even though I'm not crazy about the opening track on this EP, I like the rest of the project quite a bit. When Archy can mix compelling songwriting with his unique sonic spaces he's still capable of crafting very compelling tunes. 7.5/10

Sewerslvt Presents: Cynthoni, Pt. 1 - Sewerslvt

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, Sewerslvt emerged as the biggest name in the rapidly growing trans breakcore scene online. I was no different than most of the girls praising the outfit as I dished out love to 2020's Draining Love Story and again the next year to Skitzofrenia Simulation. But as often happens to those with a long history online, the girl behind the project ultimately faced some complicated judgment for choices she made during a decidedly more edgy time in her past. How severely we judge her output as a youth isn't exactly a question for me to decide. But after a few years off of releasing new music she's returned. Technically under a new name, Cynthoni, though she isn't trying very hard to hide the fact that this is a Sewerslvt comeback. 

After an ambient intro, the EP shifts into territory fans are likely to be dazzled by right away. Death Of The Endless comes first and it presents the same dizzying drums, disjointed samples, jittery synths, and shimmering energy that the project has always been known for. It's an opener that works great both for what it is, further proof that Sewerslvt is still miles better than her contemporaries at stretching breakcore songs to a fuller length. But also for what it represents, a return 3 years in the making. 

Far from some of the more reserved leanings that Serweslvt began serving up on the last project before her hiatus, songs like Lychee Ice are fully energy basically from start to finish refusing to let off the breaks stylistically or slow down in interpolating new sounds throughout. Similarly Grinding Of The Teeth lives up to its name with pummeling distorted drums and siren synths sounding straight out of a basement club. Eventually, the song crumbles entirely around increasingly gritty distortion until it unceremoniously fades out. 

Flickering In The Gloom is a more complicated song, sporting the album's only feature from Projekt Melody. It does have those splattering D&B drums throughout but they're presented in a way that's more compositionally abstract and imprecise. It's helped by a cloudy mix and surreal haze. Closer Monolithic Cyan Tsunami is similarly dynamic despite a relatively short runtime. While it has one of the more uninspired beat loops I've ever heard on a Sewerslvt song, it comes in the center of an interestingly composed song. Cynthoni Pt. 1 is more than just a return from Sewerslvt, it's almost a tour through her discography so far. Some of the tracks have a much more upfront embrace of breakcore and D&B while others wade, albeit gently, into some of the more stylistically dynamic elements of a record like Skitzofrenia. What results is an EP that feels compelling from start to finish and one that carries with it the weight of time spent far away. 8/10