- Hiro Kone and Tommi Tokyo come together for an EP of caustic, techno-leaning grooves.
- It takes about 30 seconds into Dorothy to realize that what you're hearing is a human. As the deep bass notes decay and percussion rattles somewhere in the distance, Tommi Tokyo's voice, distorted into a screaming crescendo of feedback, pushes itself to the forefront. These are the blistering opening moments of the new EP from Enxin/Onyx, a new collaboration between Hiro Kone and Tokyo (from the band group A). The two previously worked together on the title track of Hiro Kone's Pure Expenditure, a crawling techno jam that somehow felt both menacing and inviting. On Dorothy, Enxin/Onyx get closer to the dead center of that Venn diagram.
These four tracks buzz and whirr like a nest of angry hornets. At times, the chaos organizes itself into something resembling a groove. Opener "The Face of Others" gathers tension from Tokyo's increasingly tense vocals before bursting into a fury of blown-out kick drums and synthetic claps. Once a hi-hat wanders into the maelstrom, Tokyo lets loose with choked screams. It's as enthralling as it is terrifying. The title track takes a more slow-burn approach. As the coldwave beat marches forward, Tokyo's detuned and treated voice finds space between the rhythms. A seasick drone creeps up in volume, threatening to overtake the other elements, but instead recedes like the slow loosening of a white knuckle grip.
Despite its thunderous sonics, the EP derives its intensity from restraint. On her records as Hiro Kone, Nicky Mao often allows her modular synth programming to tip into chaos, crashing layers upon layers of sound into one another. Here, each sound feels considered. And rather than simply reacting to what's coming from Mao's rig, Tokyo works to integrate her caustic and creaking vocalizations. At points throughout the EP it's hard to discern between voice and electronics. Dorothy might be a harrowing 20 minutes, but it's thrilling in its hive-mind execution, where two distinctive artists effortlessly melt into each other.
Tracklist01. The Face Of Others
02. Katabasis
03. A Void
04. Dorothy