Alien Tung inhabits its own “Dreamzone” of sorts: one where pulsing techno gives way to ambient interludes; where thumping bass underpins lyrics that espouse a fierce, subversive feminism.
Pulsing techno gives way to ambient interludes
“Do you have to hide / these dreams inside? / I wanna disappear with you,” intones Christina Broussard (aka SciFiSol) on one of Alien Tung‘s spacier tracks, the aptly-named “Dreamzone.” The heavy effects on her whispered vocals combine with distant, echoing percussion and atmospheric synths to provide a perfect soundtrack for disappearances. The album inhabits its own “Dreamzone” of sorts: one where pulsing techno gives way to ambient interludes; where thumping bass underpins lyrics that espouse a fierce, subversive feminism.
Nowhere is this last point more evident than on the album’s opener “Aversion II” which we’re excited to premiere here on Igloo. Over a dark synth-pop groove, Broussard sings “Rebel against a cookie-cutter / Aversion to tradition / Or what gets lost / She’s anti-everything”. A gritty, distorted synth line kicks in with that last lyric, propelling the track through its back half.
Next up is “Bite The Hand That Feeds,” anchored around a driving four-on-the-floor kick and repeated lyrical invocations of the title and the ominous, enticing question: “Do I have your permission?” Broussard uses her own voice here almost as sample-based techno artists would use a found snippet of a forgotten song. Via email, she explains: “I do tend to start with lyrics that I have translated from my poetry. And then I adjust them to fit the architecture of the song itself as it develops and unfolds, perhaps repeating sections here and there for more emphasis…. I am trying to move the written word off the page and breathe alternate life into it with the medium of sound.“
“Just a Game” and “NIN” exemplify the hardware-centric approach SciFiSol has evolved on this album. Live performances over the last several years, both solo and as one half of the more dance-oriented Camino Acid duo, refined a taste for experimentation and a meditative flow-state of music making. In both tracks, there’s a core of evolving synth textures and beats rooted in techno. And over the top flows Broussard’s voice, swirled through effects and moving from a whisper to a howl. Tweaking those effects during recording brought some of the happy accidents from a live show to the album. This process, she says, “allows for interesting textures and effected word play to unfold where it may not have if I were just working on the computer. I think this is because I am in a different headspace when not looking at a computer screen.”
“I do tend to start with lyrics that I have translated from my poetry. And then I adjust them to fit the architecture of the song itself as it develops and unfolds, perhaps repeating sections here and there for more emphasis…. I am trying to move the written word off the page and breathe alternate life into it with the medium of sound.” ~Christina Broussard
Conceptually, there’s a through-line connecting the tracks on Alien Tung that reveals itself over repeated listens. Broussard writes, “The theme of the songs revolve around the importance of developing a new language in which to communicate with each other, if we are to survive in the Universe.” The “alien tongue” of the title, then, represents the difficulty of communicating with the Other, anyone outside ourselves, even those closest to us. When these breakdowns happen, we operate from, as she puts it, “the principles of fear and lack rather than insight and gratitude.” Negative consequences manifest, from disconnection to ennui to hatred.
“Veil Slipped Off” makes these consequences explicit: “They couldn’t stand / her beauty / Tore them up inside / They wanna banish her to flames.” Harsh static beats and a wild, bleeped arpeggiation give way to softer chords halfway through, perhaps giving a measure of hope in opposition to the nihilistic opening: “The veil slipped off / The wind was wild / Skin hungry for their eyes.” The next track, “Baby I’m An Animal,” continues the theme with a more carnal, sensuous bent: a slinky techno thump anchors Broussard’s breathy warning: “Too strange to love / to be forgotten soon.“
The album’s final track “Hypnosis Black Ocean,” as the name suggests, is more of a guided meditation than a song per se. Dark ambient sound design and a suggestion to “Fall into the third eye / on three” entice the listener into a liminal space between sleep and waking, where the possibilities hinted at through the album—the positive, progressive future in opposition to the alien Other, and perhaps the “Dreamzone” itself—becomes accessible.
Alien Tung is available on Detroit Underground late October 2020. [Bandcamp]
A Cooperation of Detroit Underground and Christoph Grünbergers new book Analog Algorithm – Source-Related Grid Systems. Selected Graphics are used as Cover-Designs of this exclusive edition of DU™ Tapes.
www.analog-algorithm.com
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