Burial seems to transcend genre – his music ostensibly and originally dubstep was always outside of that, moody, rainy, like a wet cold street, fleeting like reflections, hopeful yet melancholy. Now with his strangely and wonderfully Christmas-like EP ‘Rival Dealer’ he seems to have moved onto new territories – musically but also ones of joy, magic, redemption – areas that traditionally dubstep and post-dubstep rarely touches, preferring to stare moodily into it’s shoes. And in other hands this would seem cheesy or fake, but that difference is precisely why I liked Burial in the first place. A track like ‘Shell of Light’ from Untrue wasn’t about hanging around the club or nodding drop spotters, it suggests far more, something more ethereal, magical, strange – he has his own unique soundworld that even makes well-known samples curious. I’m glad he’s gone more in that direction and ignored those who apparently don’t like the ‘new’ direction (what have they been listening to? Bits of this have been in all his earlier work!).
Burial has gone on record to say this EP is “anti-bullying tunes that could maybe help someone to believe in themselves, to not be afraid, and to not give up, and to know that someone out there cares and is looking out for them.” – from another artist that might seem trite, but listen to the track above, or ‘Rival Dealer‘ and tell me this isn’t someone trying to do something far different, deeper, even and I hate to use this term, filmic – mostly because film is where these deeper stories and emotions are usually told, that’s the frame of reference here, but it’s not just that. In other words, music about something further than the usual narrative – against bullying, exclusion, transphobia and other phobias, being on the street- but also expressing hope at a time of year some people feel so divorced from.
I bought the EP anyway…recommended. (via Andy Dunproofin and Eve Massacre)
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