When the Electric Nature made the transition from a one-man project building stark, experimental drones and noise-encrusted soundscapes to a psychedelic guitar rock trio, it was an impressive feat in no small part because the band, without any formal introduction, arrived fully formed, sounding tighter and more accomplished than many of their peers. If the music was any indication, group mastermind Michael Potter seemed to relish letting go his lone wolf approach and working in a more collaborative unit; compared to the stark, frayed-edge compositions he consistently churned out on his own, the trio’s Sunspot EP sounded positively radiant.
Whether or not that record was a one-off experiment remains to be seen, but judging from the severe soundscapes that appear on the Electric Nature’s new EP, Alienation, Potter has returned definitively to his sound collage roots. “Alienation I,” the first single and video to be released off the new project, takes us down a dark and menacing path with Potter channeling Swans at their bleakest and most abrasive. The aptly-titled composition is 3 minutes and 48 seconds of corrosive tension and claustrophobic anxiety. This is the sound of the noose drawing tighter, of howling demons approaching in the distance, of the hand in the dark reaching for your throat. The atmosphere here is suffocating, a relentless parade of foreboding drones and blown-out industrial noise.
The video, created by Joshua Rogers of Broken Machine Films, is no more inviting. Using Tachyons and video synthesizers, Rogers pummels the viewer with gyrating pulses of static interspersed by occasional glimpses of random, highly-pixelated imagery. It’s a disturbing, disorienting production, one which, according to a recent post on the group’s Facebook page, “quite appropriately complements the music’s intended theme of a person’s descent into madness.” Sounds about right. Watch and listen with caution.
More Info
Bandcamp: theelectricnature.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @TheElectricNature
SoundCloud: @theelectricnature