- Unhinged club bangers.
- As the world continues to deteriorate unchecked, the word "unhinged" has emerged as a meme. We have unhinged traits, unhinged days, unhinged tweets, unhinged people. The usual definition of unhinged—deranged, with its connotation of scariness—has given way to a new meaning along the lines of "riveting train wreck." Less often, unhinged now also describes something magnificently weird or absurd. Despina's new EP, Limb Slip, is unhinged in the second sense, zanily detached from respectability or predictability. It’s meticulously constructed, neither messy nor crowded, and in its glee typical of the chaotic good Kindergarten collective Despina is affiliated with. Assigning genres to this record is possible; there's leftfield, bass, breaks, hyperpop and a little bit of techno, all of which can get unhinged, but none of which really describe the sound design.
A metallic palette runs through the record. Opener "Packing (Phallus)" has hollow pipe-type sounds, the suggestion of a metal sheet getting hit with a soft mallet, even a hinge-y thing that lands somewhere on the creaky door spectrum. There's also bubbles and a revving car engine and an almost-creepy giggle toward the end, because why not? "Alexa In Disrepair" starts percussive, descends into bouncy techno, and then swivels back to the clangs via a marimba-esque synth, just in case anyone was getting into a predictable groove.
The mayhem continues on chugger "Akimbo," which is unbalanced and twangy and pulls off a neat halftime trick that makes it feel a lot slower (maybe 100 BPM) than it actually is (125 BPM). Closer "Weird Angel" throws noisy breaks into the mix, sending the record out on a heavy, heady note. In its varied unhingings, this record isn't for everyone. But if it does slap for you, it'll slap very hard.
Tracklist01. Packing (Phallus)
02. Akimbo
03. Alexa In Disrepair
04. Weird Angel