Cheekbone – Thorns (feat. Lonelyspeck)
Ok I know what you’re thinking; it’s ol’ tommy faith, writing up another Lonelyspeck parallel-project because Sione’s involved. If we’re being real about it (and we always are) I jumped when I saw the lonelyspeck moniker attached to the song. Had to hear it for the obvious reasons but then I also had to wonder which producer had coaxed Sione into a sonic association… what did they have to offer that’d caught the Lobelyspeck ear. The answer is… so much. Explosive, lacerating blasts of percussion, pulverized to a messy pulp and distorted into thickened waves. Arrangements that leave the requisite space for Lonelyspeck’s vocals but also fill the adjoining areas with chaotic stabs of… guitar? Is that what’s been processed here? I think it might be. Reportedly there’s also ney flute and sartoor on this track but I don’t have the ears to pull them out individually. Ultimately the whole thing is turbulent and lawless, flailing about like a hose with the pressure raised far too high, spraying cold wet onto everyone within reach.
It’s electronic music done right, neurotic and explosive but without any typifying tropes to over-signpost how it’s meant to feel. And then Lonespeck… the perfect vocal for this. Thin, delicate and an ideal counterpoint to the madness of Cheekbone’s cacophony.
I should probably offer a little context around Cheekbone because though we’re not admittedly at his very first release, we’re certainly very early on in what’s hopefully a noteworthy career of work… he’s an Australian born Iranian-Canadian based in Far North Queensland and as soon as this single graced the pages of triplejunearthed.com, I knew he was a real one. He slid the next single under my study door and let me tell you, it’s worth getting on board now because this is bullet train energy. See ya.
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Sounds like cello to me. Spectacular atmosphere on this track.
His new ‘Displacement’ is excellent as well.