- Peder Mannerfelt's sense of humour tends to appear even in his more abrasive material. As a producer who makes club bangers like an amused scientist, he laces Clear Eyes, Full Heart with cheekiness. When the catchy vocal on "Cry To Your Soul" implores you to "remember," it does so with a wink. The track's flexing bass and sirens dial in to UK pirate radio, but it's not a tribute, exactly. There's an anxiety, expressed by flinty kicks and glassy drones, that haunts the music. It's less concerned with embracing the past than recoiling from the memory, or dreading what's to come.
"Clear Eyes, Full Heart" seems to realise "Cry To Your Soul"'s worst fears. It begins with brutal modular strobes, the severity of which might easily thin out a dance floor. Suddenly, however, rave keys pound against the chaos and gradually take control. It wouldn't just take nerves to drop "Clear Eyes, Full Heart" in a DJ set, but also faith in the dancers.
There's something rough, even ugly, about the sounds Mannerfelt uses here. Buzzsaw synths cut deep into "Savvy," a track that shares "Cry To Your Soul"'s affinity for UK soundsystem music. "The Great Attractor" sinks into a black bath of bass, air-raid wails and voltage spikes. In his recent Machine Love feature, Mannerfelt discussed the process of "unlearning mental baggage" while he produces music. On Clear Eyes, Full Heart, he's unlearned that nostalgia should be comforting.
TracklistA1 Cry To Your Soul
A2 Clear Eyes, Full Heart
B1 Savvy
B2 The Great Attractor