- In a May interview with The Quietus, Dwayne Parris-Robinson said that Hemlock was his introduction to a UK dance music scene that now counts him as a rising star. The Bristol-based producer mentioned James Blake's 2009 EP Air & Lack Thereof, whose chasm of empty space, quaking sub-bass and manipulated vocals inverted the typical dynamics of dubstep by making tiny sounds feel huge. Parris has made his own debut on Hemlock with an EP that channels the spirit of Air & Lack Thereof, delivering three skeletal but imposing tracks that rank among the strangest and heaviest of his career.
Each of the EP's three tunes feel like a whisper at first, but their force becomes apparent when you play them loud. The title track, essentially a single pulsating bass note and a repetitive chord progression, is the most impressive. The occasional sound effect or clip of vocal adds to the heady mood, but the track is mightiest when it's at its most reduced. It sounds like it's built with cobwebs, but it will blast a dance floor like any heavy-duty banger.
The two tracks on the B-side are equally ghostly. "Flowering In Threes" teases a rhythm while mechanical whirrs and water sounds shade it with the same ambiguous mood of "Your Kiss Is Sour." Then there's "My Beautiful Fantasy," which is like deconstructed DMZ—the bassline quivers like a Mala record while the synth trills out an eerie melody. It feels supremely off-kilter, almost ominous, all without rising above a murmur.
TracklistA1 Your Kiss Is Sour
B1 Flowering In Threes
B2 My Beautiful Fantasy