In 2014, we had artists like Lorenzo Senni and PC Music taking us to the limit of what we thought we could allow ourselves to consider “serious music” and, in the process, showing us that that hesitation was nothing more than our own preconceptions preventing us from enjoying entire sonic palettes. “Castles” by Diamond Terrifier (Sam Hillmer of ZS) combines elements from several oft-questioned genres (free-jazz, EDM, middle-class-girl-internet-whisper-rap) in innovate ways that produce stunning results.
I keep worrying the track’s about to go full-on EDM (spoiler alert: it never does), but it stays delightfully right on that edge, teasing, playing, building its allure. The track’s backbone is a bubblegummy ping-pong synth loop, with occasional percussive jolts that, quite selflessly, never take over the rhythm. There’s also a lot of synthy whooshes, tucked-deep vocal aahs thrown in for texture, and, not inconspicuously, a shredding free-jazz sax straddling melody, texture, and rhythm all at once. Eartheater carries us through the home stretch with a #GuestVerse, smooth-operating in stark contrast to Diamond T’s (no less enjoyable) atonal skronk. Hushed, hazy words flow out of her mouth like e-cig vapor, hanging in the air, catching the light and changing the vibe of the room into something silky and lucid.
TL;DR This track rules.
This is also a good time to mention that ZS have a new album, Xe, out next Tuesday on Northern Spy.
• Diamond Terrifier: https://soundcloud.com/diamondterrifier