Sybarite - 'Scene Of The Crime' (4AD)
4/5
By: Joshua K
On the heels of his 'Nonument' album, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Xian Hawkins releases three new tracks of progressive, elegiac electronica.
A mid-1990s member of legendary pop experimentalists Silver Apples, Sybarite's music is perfect '2am on a rainy night' listening - and, thus, a precise fit with the 4AD label, that legendary home of moody, brooding music from Lush to Mojave 3. In other words, while samplers are used to create an intoxicating and melodic mix, this lot are decidely not Gorillaz.
The title-track, for example, combines the lyrics and vox of Elysian Fields' singer Jennifer Charles with meandering viola and glitched-up sonics, to tell the apparent tale of a co-dependent relationship ('I guess you never know when it's all about to blow/There's no looking back/Always return to the scene of the crime.'). It's an arresting vision, made all the more special by Charles' beautiful torch singer's voice, which manages to be both obscured in the mix and somehow rise above. No stranger to collaborations - having also worked with Kid Koala and Dan the Automator - she is put to great use here, filling out a mesmerizing track that sounds like a futurist version of jazzy lounge-rockers Cousteau.
The B-sides continue the mood in fine (vocal-free) form, with each using a different live instrument to ensure the music remains fresh. In 'The Fourth Way', drums arise in both the front and center, Hawkins grasping such percussion and filtering and looping it to drive the song forward as a haunting keyboard refrain repeats throughout; good, but also easily the record's most 'traditionally mainstream' moment - and therefore the track most likely to be heard in the background while you dine at a trendy restaurant. Meanwhile, 'International Date Line' makes hypnotic use of what the liner notes refer to as a 'broken flute'. The result is a lullaby-like piece that chimes along at a slightly off-kilter pace, its several discernable layers of sound working as, on the one-hand, soothing, but, to nice effect, unsettling at the same time.
Abridged: a rich, dusky tapestry - just in time for autumn.
Artists in this article: Sybarite
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