- Hypnotic beats cast against atmospheres evocative of bleak cityscapes.
- Amazondotcom has spoken about her music in terms of rituals, frequently pointing to her affinity for shamanic practices' use of functional, rhythmic music for healing purposes. She places music's ability to conjure alternate futures and unlock new "imaginaries" at the forefront of her practice. Her bass-heavy, polyrhythmic beats are characterized by consistent variation and expansion. They move, tangle and lock together continuously, wrapping around her abstract, and sometimes otherworldly, sampling. Frequently, they have the ability to paint sonic visions.
This approach to rhythm and sound design was first realized on Amazondotcom's first solo EP, 2019's Mirror River, which paired her nimble percussion with processed samples of birds, trees and other natural phenomena. On last year's split EP with like-minded producer Siete Catorce, the pair cast similar ideas in a more industrial light, with samples of nature bumping up against darker beats and harsher, colder environments. (The dramatic shift in album art makes complete sense.)
War Bride, Amazondotcom's latest EP on her label SUBREAL, completes this transition. It may open with a birdcall, but War Bride's music feels much more tied to the concrete landscape and dank alleyways of the city than the warmth and humidity of the forest. Still, Amazondotcom's penchant for lithe, hypnotic rhythm programming still drives the project. But her head-spinning beats are colder and more metallic than before, bathed in a desolate ambience. On tracks like "The Most Foreign Country" and "Household Deity," drums bubble up from clouds of sonic haze accompanied by bleak, woozy synths. The previous birdcalls have now morphed into blatantly digital representations.
The ties to the rough city atmosphere only get more apparent from here. "Sonic Deity'"s high-pitched lead melodies are made from bent and twisted sirens, and on "LA Fiction," beats are wrapped in field recordings of rainy street traffic punctuated by car horns. At first glance, these horns appear woven into the atmosphere, but they quickly jump out from the edges of the stereo field and reappear, honking front-and-center. Because of this, the track has officially topped my list of least appropriate songs to listen to in traffic, at a stoplight or on the freeway. I've listened to the track in all three settings, unfortunately.
Amazondotcom has stated before that her music is unconcerned with the hard boundaries of genre and the club's sphere of influence. And while War Bride would certainly demolish a dance floor, its pulse feels less connected to the predictable confines of that environment. It's much more akin to the unending energy of a busy urban street, hectic sirens and strange lights cutting through the enveloping night.
Tracklist01. The Most Foreign Country
02. Gut Ritual
03. Household Deity
04. LA Fiction
05. Body and Soul