I grew up on my dad’s old funk and blues records; on soul artists whose confessional, intensely personal storytelling made me feel as if I knew Rickie Lee Jones better than my sister, and like John Lee Hooker was just the guy I bought milk from every morning at my local Offie down the road.
So when electronic music became fiercely popular amongst all my friends, it left me cold and unmoved; I missed the sounds of real instruments and real people. The thick forest called ‘Jungle’ left me in the dark and ‘Minimal House’ was nothing like my home, although my flatmate is an anti-clutter Nazi.
But then I made a discovery. I started listening to artists like Deejay Deer, who combine the electronic with the emotional, the synthetic with the human; who really make you feel something. Recently signed to maverick Glaswegian label ‘Numbers’, Deejay Deer’s new track ‘Unnatural’ is truly wonderful.
Undulating waves of noise that sound like electricity and a distorted synth melody gives you the sense that you’re floating in space, being serenaded by an other-worldly band playing extraterrestrial violins. Deer experiments with different rhythms that sometimes sound like the irregular and fitful patter of a million tiny feet, and at other moments are deep tribal beats rooted in traditional African drumming.
Finishing with smooth jazzy sustained chords and a shimmering synth melody, ‘Unnatural’ gives us an exciting taste of what’s to come. ‘Natur’ is out on limited vinyl and digital on October 6th.
- Georgia Rose
