Michael Potter is a relentless experimenter. With each successive record from the Electric Nature—and there are many—it’s impossible to predict what side of his many songwriting personalities you are going to get. The pop deconstruction and sound collagist that delivered Mount Analogue and Ancient Astronauts and Medicine Men? The freewheeling psychedelic tunesmith that gave us Drugs in My Space Face and the Sunspot EP? The meditative drone enthusiast that crafted Lungrakes and Alienation? The list goes on.
So it should be no surprise that on Dark Sun Sets Circle, Potter pivots once again. Recorded live in Athens and Atlanta between September and November of 2015, the new album is an epic four-part improvisational drone and ambient noise dirge that’s as unsettling as the record’s grim artwork would suggest. Despite his willingness to explore the frayed edges of the outer cosmos, Potter has, for the most part, maintained a passing semblance to rhythm and structure in his compositions. But here he lets loose whatever remaining tethers he had left and tries to peel back the fabric of the universe.
Accompanied by a patchwork network of supporting musicians, including members of Cult of Riggonia, Smokedog, and Genetic Outcast, Potter unfurls over fifty minutes of buzzing cinematic upheaval consisting of fractured field recordings, discombobulated percussion, tattered guitar eruptions, cryptic white noise, and who knows what else. At times it sounds like a horror movie soundscape that’s been chopped into pieces and sewn back together. At others it feels like you’re tripping balls inside a sheet metal factory. For the listener, it’s a test of will and endurance to see how far you can make it through before tapping out or succumbing to the sinister vibrations and haunting echoes that lurch at you through the unremitting hum of darkness.
Michael Potter has never been shy about testing boundaries; this time, however, he decided to ignore them entirely. Listen with caution.
Dark Sun Sets Circle is available now through Florida label Illuminated Paths.
More Info
Bandcamp: theelectricnature.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @TheElectricNature
SoundCloud: @theelectricnature