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CMU Approved
Approved: Sharp Veins
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 27 August 2020
Over the last few years, Sharp Veins – aka musician Harrison King – has put out electronic music spanning everything from pop to ambient. Now he’s back with the second track from his debut album, ‘Armor Your Actions Up In Quest’, which sees him delving into… what? I don’t know.
“These are synthetic rock/metal approximations, emo indie into post-grunge played by automation, straight-synth-power-pop, and new wave sped up”, he explains. Sort of.
“It’s harshness for the sake of harshness”, he goes on, “asynchronous manipulated sample scree and wavering experimentalism. It’s shlocky shredding, histrionics, wailing vocals, huge drums and bulbous bass. It’s a dinky pocket orchestra and triumphant trance drama. It’s cheesy songs imagined for an arena, and it’s a lullaby”.
The first track from the album, ‘Therapist Wrestle’, which was released earlier this month, is relatively pure in its rock influence, although it is still ultimately electronic music. Meanwhile new track ‘Built Camp, Reflected On Failed Quest’ gives more of a hint at the lengths King is willing to stretch the album’s influences to.
“I revisited and analysed new and old records, most of which weren’t electronic, front to back, and eventually, I figured, ‘fuck it, I might as well elucidate sonic intentions'”, he says. “I wanted to make conspicuously plastic, garbled and mismatched music; pieces that, added together, amounted to something garish and bursting”.
“These cartoonish versions of established and appreciated rock and metal tropes are reduced to their strata, mixed and matched, strained to MIDI and forcibly ripped and pasted back together with no regard for tastefulness”, he goes on. “It seemed like a good way to at once overcome writer’s block and turn my nose up at the notions of musical purity that were consistently giving me fits of imposter syndrome”.
‘Armor Your Actions Up In Quest’ is out on 18 Sep. Listen to ‘Built Camp, Reflected On Failed Quest’ here:
