Album of the Week: Kris Davis - Bleak

After taking a short hiatus from writing these Album of the Week reviews, I finally got a little time to sit and listen to some new material dropped into my inbox. This latest EP from Kris Davis got me engaged from the moment I heard the first few bars of the lead single 'Bleak'. When I found out it was part of Christian Löffler's dance label Young Alaska I was even more intrigued and as I read through his release notes I paused on this part of the artist's own opinion of his latest work, "Optimism in dismay." While only snippets have been released to the public at this point, definitely look out for the full release on April 1st, and if you're a vinyl collector pre-order the 12" here.

Kris Davis - Bleak EP

In Davis' mind this 2 track EP serves to be self expressive; an exploration of his emotions that correlate with the aforementioned quote from his press release. The despondent nature of the lead single is calmly balanced with the hopeful sentiments shown in the supporting single 'Empathy'. While 'Bleak' envelops your senses into a long and dark tunnel of despair its counterpart illuminates a ray of optimism revealing a dim but promising path.

Bleak

There is so much character in this composition, and narrative that is constructed aptly represents and embodies the title of this track. A supple kick rests delicately underneath a soft popping hand drum that has a wonderful snap to close off the tail end of each hit resembling the clean strike of a horseshoe on concrete. An array of light shakers, triangle loops, and other idiophones decorate and pan the upper registers while a long drawn out string pad layers with an airy loop that sets a deep mood for this track. A superb, dark bass pulsates in the background and slowly grows in velocity as the track progresses into some of the core arrangements. A high pitched synth resembling a clarinet creates a hypnotic ambience while a host of heavily FX'd bells echo in a seemingly endless cavern. A host of delayed spectral "oohs" and "ahhs" bubble forth, searching through the dark expanse hoping to find a clear path forward. Intentionally so, the track meanders through the first 3 minutes until a heavily washed out crash signals the transition to a more energetic almost uplifting section of the song. Davis' doesn't allow for that to carry on for too long quickly delving the listener back down to a more somber mood which serves general theme of this track well. As a final note... a faint rattle can be heard, especially in the opening section of the song, that has led me down several searches for potential source material of the sample. Everything from a heavily FX'd Güira to a old wooden washboard come to mind (more on this in the second track).

Empathy

Before going into some of the nuances of this song I want to point out how well Davis constructs his drum layers, they embody the complexity of an orchestral arrangement but once parsed each element has such a simple organic feel. As I mentioned in the closing review of 'Bleak' there was a percussion sample I simply couldn't put my finger on, and as fate has it we hear it or something very similar much more prominently in the opening bars of 'Empathy'. Rattling forward with every passing beat, shakers shower us while a collection open hand drums stabs are sprinkled in for good measure. The doubling of the kick hits varies every so often providing a nice dynamic feel to the main rhythm of the track. A much brighter group of string pads are introduced into this arrangement slowly panning from the left side and building in velocity with such a peaceful demeanor that you almost become lost in their entrancing timbre. Several minutes into the track, the main rhythm synth begins to come into the foreground infusing more energy into the tempo and continuing to brighten the character and mood of the song. A spiritual ebb and flow can be felt with each passing moment of the track's main build especially when the lead synth reveals itself and crescendo's so beautifully you wish that it wouldn't stop. Much the same as 'Bleak', the beckoning calls of each chord slowly fade until we are left with a deconstructed picture of the tracks former optimistic identity.Kris Davis aka Chris Hodgins has made headway since his first debut EP on Subjekt recordings hit the airwaves in 2014. As far as ambient house is concerned and its correlation with analog synthesis, Davis has a exceptional grasp on the latter and his productions are perfectly situated in the former. Diversity is key when producing in the current environment of electronic music, and the aptitude that Davis demonstrates in this regard is inspiring. His remix with Yost on Ashworth's latest EP Grain is yet another feather in his cap revealing his ability to collaborate with others (something very few producers especially early on in their careers exhibit). Round all of this out with a curatorial ear in his podcasts and mixes as well as many highly touted performances and Davis has the makings of a long a fruitful career. It's no surprise really that when digging through his discography I came across this remix for Save Us RecordsLöffler and his team are all about the visuals, and this teaser sets up the forthcoming Bleak release really well. Löffler is also a visual artist and considers the narrative to be a critical component to the music he curates and produces, "It is more about telling a story than making everything accessible right from the start."This "music video" from Löffler's single 'Blind' from 2012 is another representation of the holistic approach to music that this multifaceted producer takes on all of his projects. It is actually a short film that acts as a performance piece created by Natasha Todd.Young Alaska is the sub label of Ki Records, run by the aforementioned Christian Löffler with a goal to curate music that can paint moody dreamscapes of auditory bliss. 'Bleak' will only be the third release on the imprint setting clear expectations of more exciting releases to follow.Enjoy,MR PUZL