Burial shows he’s unafraid of forging ahead even if it strays from his hits. This is aural cinematography created by a master storyteller working not in words but in sound itself.
Burial shows he’s unafraid of forging ahead
17 years after the release of his debut EP South London Boroughs (Hyperdub), one could be forgiven for thinking Streetlands, Burial’s latest, was made by another artist. Three songs with two topping out over ten minutes in length, whereas of South London Boroughs’ four songs; three barely top out past five minutes while one is just barely four. And this is a very good thing.
Burial made a name for himself with dark, spacious tracks that throbbed with deftly curated drums, eerie samples and an angry intensity which seemed a fitting soundtrack for 21st century London as much as any club they were played in. One could ponder until weary if Burial’s music is influenced by the cyberpunk masterpiece Blade Runner, or if in fact the soundscapes he creates are of greater, singular vision than almost any other artist working in the underground club music realm. Since those early releases each has grown longer and more complex with some challenging decisions and choices made which intrigued many and alienated some listeners. Suffice it to say with each eagerly anticipated release, Burial shows he’s unafraid of forging ahead even if it strays from his hits. This is aural cinematography created by a master storyteller working not in words but in sound itself.
Aural cinematography ::
With Streetlands, gone are the thud and clack dubstep beats and warped samples of songs and found sounds while the atmosphere remains; one of dark, damp spaces that echo with emotion despite the apparent disappearance of most human involvement. “Hospital Chapel” is an ambient excursion that might make even Autechre uneasy with the vast reverb laden soundscape, long quiet passages and clicking, popping sounds of worn vinyl moving in and out of focus as haunted orchestras pass by on barges drawn by the listener’s eager anticipation of what will come next. “Streetlands,” the title track, bears a common thread through the entire piece not in the atmospheric elements but more in the actual melodic parts wherein Burial works his skill at creating an entirely new track from sampled works. “Exokind” evokes ancient rituals with pan flute samples and an eerie voice that seduces with the whisper “Be one of us…” as an arpeggiated line cuts through the grime with a living pulse that evolves and changes along numinous synthetic passages.
The variation and manipulation of only a few elements shows Burial at his most creative and masterful if not furthest from his roots in dubstep.
Streetlands is available on Hyperdub. [Bandcamp]
