As part of a collaborative art project,
Redhead sees Rekids label boss Matt Edwards aka Radio Slave venture into an eerie and exotic soundscape under his relatively new moniker of The Machine. According to the renowned UK artist himself, the whole project (including the visual components) is driven by the idea of recycling and creating collages, which is something that he’s been doing since art school.
Indeed with the animated bird chirps, rhythmic pulsating of tides and creaking noises on the opener
Continental Drift, the concept of collage is already palpable. But what really propels this 13-minute ambient track forward is the shimmering and atmospheric synth layers reminiscent of
I Don’t Need A Cure For This; thanks to their cinematic and psychedelic quality, the LP is kicked off in a deep and subtle fashion.
The second track
Opening Ceremony (Fuse) then sees Edwards emerge as a mysterious shaman and bring the tribal theme to the fore, with the spiritual choir, haunting lead vocals, and tribal house percussions rendering a heavy dose of exotic flavour that is sustained through out almost the rest of the album: bouncy-beat-driven affair
Leopard Skin sounds like a dynamic snapshot of the jungle;
Talking Dolls, with its relentless techy rhythm and ethnic vocal parts, leads the listener further towards the darkness, whilst the 16-minute finale
Root People conjures up a hypnotically vibrant vibe through the interlacements of exotic samples - especially the loopy tribal singing and handclaps that naturally take over the track in the final section after the kick disappears, making it like a closing ceremony. The only track on the album that is arguably more modernistic-sounding is the second to the last track
Spellbound, a dark and spacey affair propelled by some intense droning noises and rumbling bass.
Actually it won’t be surprising that some will find this subtly crafted 6-track LP too personal whilst some others will need a few listens to get immersed into the twisted tribal vibe. Nevertheless, since it’s part of a collaborative art project, being artistically challenging (despite the fact that traits of Radio Slave are still recognisable) for the listeners’ musical perception is actually part of its value, and apparently it’ll shine more brightly when appreciated alongside the short film and graphics that accompany it (watch the first edit of the video for
Opening Ceremony (Fuse) here). In our disposable-music-filled dance music scene, projects like this certainly deserve extra effort and support from the listeners indeed.