Two years after the release of her groundbreaking LP DIN, FAY re-emerges with her rhythmic masterwork Deathwatch. Treading many of the signature avant-pop and rough-and-tumble R&B tropes first heard on DIN, Deathwatch expands the sonic palette pushing elements of drone, no wave/post-punk, and dub higher into the mix.
With a tight focus on exploring the physical within the realm of machine music, Deathwatch (like DIN) was conceived using the same process of editing and stitching sounds together visually without the help of sequencers or even a grid. It’s fascinating to hear how the rhythms tangle and untangle. While this is music made with computers, FAY’s painstakingly unique process and imperfections highlight the raw human element reflecting the blood, sweat, and pain that goes into her addictively rhythm explorations.
out April 1st, 2014 in North America / March 31st, 2014 on LP + digital
press
absolutely essential listening for anyone with even the vaguest interest in unusual approaches to popular genres and rhythmic experiments in dance music.
Anchored by wilfully, cannily off-the-grid grooves, we hear a more sultry and warped FAY this time out, much to our satisfaction.
This isn’t so much subversion as pure creativity laid to tape.
reimagined stylizations of the R&B trope, and a particularly erudite reconciliation of analog and digital themes.
track listing
Deathwatch /vinyl 12"/digital - FAY - TNP014