Divine Interface - Seeking Arrangement

  • Hip-house and funk mesh together over an entertaining narrative of a seduction gone awry.
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  • Divine Interface is part of an Atlanta electronic music scene that holds contemporary R&B and hip-hop as dear as it does classic house and techno. With 2017's Precious Cargo, Drew Briggs outlined a distinct style in just four tracks: louche, laid-back and more than a little sexy. Three years later, Seeking Arrangement fleshes out that world, leaning into hip-house and electro-funk like a keen pupil of Dam-Funk, Moodymann and Galcher Lustwerk. Seeking Arrangement also expands on the romantic perspective of that first EP, with wry observational lyrics that run the gamut of a relationship: pursuit, paranoia, contentment, regret. It tells the story of a night that begins at the club, moves to a taxi and goes from there—you can probably guess what happens. Briggs has two registers: a low baritone that exudes confidence, and a higher register that comes off a little meeker. The best songs on the album make use of both, like "So Fine," which starts out like hip-house before he turns to falsetto and floats over the beat: "One question: Why are you so fine?" On the equally excellent "Slide Piece," Briggs' higher register is processed into a trippy flutter, a woozy completed by the drunken hi-hats slipping and sliding all over the place. There are club jams on Seeking Arrangement, like the sub-rattling bass quakes and firmer rap of "In The Back," but Briggs works best at his most relaxed. "1-800-411-Paranoia" is the track where he starts to question the new relationship, and he's backed up by a rhythm section that sounds calm and collected but jumpy at just the right moments. The feeling is like someone who's nervous and easily startled. Briggs' music drips with character like this, which makes the narrative arc of Seeking Arrangement both entertaining and convincing: it's a deeply funky an interrogation of desire, the dynamics of relationships and the expectations that can come from even a simple hookup. He gets these ideas across not just in vocals and lyrics but with the instrumentals, too. It's complex body music that registers emotions in every drum hit and walking bassline.
  • Tracklist
      01. So Fine 02. Slide Piece (Can I Come Sleep In The Cloud With You?) 03. 1-800-411-Paranoia 04. Sometimes 05. In The Back 06. Freak Insight 07. It's Upsetting 08. Bye Gone
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