- Blackest Ever Black has typically been a label where disparate things are brought together. It's only in hindsight that you spot the common threads connecting its roster of oddballs and stragglers. But the label isn't young any more, and there's a new generation of artists for whom BEB itself is a primary influence.
Australian artist Carla Dal Forno has graced the label twice before, making dirgy guitar pop as one third of F Ingers and wilder synth explorations in the duo Tarcar. Both projects draw on a cloud of influences, from vintage post-punk and goth to dub and DIY synth, and they do so with an unmistakable BEB sensibility. According to label owner Kiran Sande, early demos from Dal Forno and co. were conscious attempts to make "the kind of music I might play on the [BEB radio] show… Sometimes I think they know me better than I know myself, musically speaking—they make the music I dream of."
Dal Forno, now living in Berlin, continues the trend on her debut solo album. Everything about it is exquisitely BEB, from the stylish portrait on the sleeve to the sly poetic title and the bleak romanticism of its contents. Her drum machine-led arrangements are sparse and painterly, the playing—guitar, piano, a few peeps of what sounds like recorder—restrained, and Dal Forno's voice distant and smudged with reverb.
At its best, the record trumps her other projects thanks to its crystal-clear pop sense. You Know What It's Like's two singles are its highlights: skeletal gem "Fast Moving Cars" and the darker "What You Gonna Do Now?." The rest of the album—well, it's more of an extended EP really—struggles to keep up. "The Same Reply" comes close, but "DB Rip" feels like a missed opportunity to bring techno into play, while the title track overdoes its gothic pomp. The rest are slight but elegant mood pieces. Dal Forno is good at these, but it's her pop songs that do more than just tick the BEB boxes.
Tracklist01. Italian Cinema
02. Fast Moving Cars
03. DB Rip
04. What You Gonna Do Now?
05. Dry In The Rain
06. You Know What It's Like
07. Dragon Breath
08. The Same Reply