En Direct :: The Illusion Of Control (Clear Memory)

Despite the black matter of the eight tracks, the floor is not forgotten with the Leipzig outfit delivering some angular and angry body music amongst their lancing electro and psychological experiments. A soundtrack for the world we, somehow, find ourselves in.

The frigid funk of the synthesizers

The Illusion of Control marks a shift for Clear Memory, the imprint’s first LP to date. It is also En Direct’s first album after two EPs on Leipzig’s Lunatic Rec. The eight offerings see the group delve deeper and further into the murky borders between electro, industrial and synth.

Blackened and raw, “Measurements” is a callous and coarse ode to abandoned factories and lost hope. A dirge, strung-out strings are veiled in a drunken haze as choral lyrics swarm. Unsettling to say the least. Despite the name, “Crush the Light” is less fierce. Incising beats bite into brittle bars, melodic patterns are sombre and subtle with vocals donning a militaristic chant. The stripped-back nature of the compositions amplifies the album’s overarching bleakness. Penetrating this atmosphere is the computer chirp and clipped percussion of “On Time, ” stabbed key changes and bullying Big Brother spoken word clawing the listening back into the basement. The social commentary embedded in the tracks speaks of the breakdown of our human qualities, an individualistic coldness and cruelty emphasized by the frigid funk of the synthesizers. But, that isn’t to say that the LP is lacking in fun. At moments, En Direct let the seriousness slip for some tomfoolery. “Little White Lies” is chiptune inspired chicanery, joyful and innocent in its bawdy bass and 16bit chords.

Seesawing and sorrowful synth-lines ::

Thick bruising beats introduce the flip, seesawing and sorrowful synth-lines cutting through the ruin and rust of “Condition 1.” Unknown figures loom in the dark and paranoid “This World.” Under the refrain of “this world is coming for you,” En Direct paint a nightmarish picture with EBM colors and acid undertones. Suspicion is turned on its head with “Positive Paranoia,” the title sounds more like a rally cry of the GDR rather than its true self-help oxymoron. With vocals in German, a spritely melody elbows its way past prickly percussive patterns. The visceral “Kill the Swine” closes. Brooding bars tower over the track, countering this are slender in their organ-like notes with the entire piece adopting a solemn sermon style. A final rite to end.

The Illusion Of Control was never going to be a sunshine and lollypops affair. En Direct etched their name into their machines with spikes and soot. Despite the black matter of the eight tracks, the floor is not forgotten with the Leipzig outfit delivering some angular and angry body music amongst their lancing electro and psychological experiments. A soundtrack for the world we, somehow, find ourselves in.

The Illusion Of Control is available on Clear Memory. [Bandcamp]