Kuedo returns to Planet Mu with his long awaited second album ‚ÄôSlow Knife‚Äô. It‚Äôs been five years since his acclaimed debut ‚ÄòSeverant‚Äô and time has proved it prescient; its futuristic trap influence is now ubiquitous. ‚ÄòSlow Knife‚Äò seems to return to where ‚ÄòSeverant‚Äô left off, but with the intricate sound design of last year‚Äôs haunting EP ‚ÄòAssertion Of A Surrounding Presence‚Äô subsumed into the compositions, making them more exacting and beautifully crafted. Between albums Kuedo has been working as a sound designer and composer for hire and the application of intent and widescreen rigour that commercial work requires has definitely found its way into the new album. ‚ÄòSlow Knife‚Äô has the subtlety, ambition and pacing of a brilliant soundtrack - a sense of an album of scenes, that easily lends itself to an impressionistic narrative. But, as with ‚ÄòSeverant‚Äô, the title suggests relationship unease, with the slow knife being a metaphor for the building resentment in any close relationship. ‚ÄòSlow Knife‚Äô is almost two albums; the first half, according to Kuedo, invokes the seduction of the city, taking the music of Michael Mann‚Äôs ‚ÄòManhunter‚Äô as a cue, with the latter half being inspired by the bloody starscapes and voodoo wilderness of films such as ‚ÄòAngel Heart‚Äô, ‚ÄòNight Of The Hunter‚Äô and more recently the ‚ÄòTrue Detective‚Äô series. Both halves of the album are also in thrall to ‚ÄòGhost In The Shell‚Äô and Mica Levi‚Äôs inspiring ‚ÄòUnder The Skin‚Äô soundtrack, especially in the turbulence of the mid-section. The songs of the albums first half are synthetic and seductive, a gelatinous veil with shades of the pseudo-sophisticated trance of Enigma, of all things, underpinned with dusky unsettling shadows and atmosphere. ‚ÄòIn Your Sleep‚Äô, perhaps surprisingly, features the vocals of Hayden Thorpe from Wild Beasts, who settles his dark, whispered vocals into the moonlit shadowy atmosphere. ‚ÄòFloating Forest‚Äô is the first track to allow back some of Kuedo‚Äôs experimentation with the Southern rap template, which he explored before it became commonplace, with echoed drum splashes and a sinister repetitive motif, ending with a haunting growl. The second half of the album enters wilderness territory with ‚ÄòApproaching‚Äôs slow descending notes, before ‚ÄòBroken Fox - Black Hole‚Äô throws the record into the cathartic darkness, as undulating chords play hide and seek with riotous reeds and scratchy strings grown from challenging collaborations with cello player Koenraad Ecker (of Lumisokea). ‚ÄòBreaking The Surface‚Äô shivers and coils, before metal and strings dominate while ‚ÄòIn Your Skin‚Äô feels like being lost in a vast hinterland before ‚ÄòWarmer Light‚Äô introduces some memories of sunshine, with its plucked bassline and spiralling dub. ‚ÄòHalogen Light‚Äô opens with the sound of crickets and a clear piano, cleansing the soul before ‚ÄòLathe‚Äô brings things down to earth with a short, yet powerful coda.

• Format Detail: 2LP Gatefold
• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Dance & Electronic

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