Hailing from Singapore, this release represents SUN CORP’s first venture in a while. The last release dates back to January,…

Hailing from Singapore, this release represents SUN CORP’s first venture in a while. The last release dates back to January, an EP that cemented the artist as a force of interest and originality. Pushing forward before the years close, we are presented with Displacement.

We start with Wake. A lone voice speaks out through a drizzling rain. Before being able to comprehend the sense of what is being said, the listener is almost instantly floored by a huge impact. What sounds like the opening of a huge, cosmologically-sized hole fills the soundscape. Echoed tones from the mouth of the gaping cavity present a growing melody. We hear the voice once again, even more inaudible, lost to the elements that we now struggle through ourselves. An atmosphere of darkness grows for a while, then dissipates to make way for the same pitter-patter of rain. It sounds as if we have been spat back out onto any old street corner, but what happened? What space did those intimidating sounds emanate from? SUN CORP hits with both barrels right from the outset, disorientating the listener.

The title track begins, a distorted murmur or sound leads into a deep, creaking rhythm. A huge bass sound charges forward, with small frills of cymbal percussion wilting off of it as it goes. The darker sides of the U.K Garage and Drum & Bass movement are apparent. The distinct sound of high-frequency percussion dragging like chains along a marble floor. The rainswept snare drum only just making its way through to us through the damp atmosphere the characterises the track. A muffled vocal motif pierces through every now and again. Again, the melody of the track is merely inferred by incidental sound driven by a harsh sub-level bass. SUN CORP holds no feeling of eeriness back in the title track. The producers duty seems to be to push us head first into this dull and dreary aesthetic with both hands tied behind our back

Rename provides a respite from the encroaching darkness soundtracked in the first two tracks. But it is one without closure and happiness. Instead a small glimmer of light appears in the warbling sample of a bell appearing like light at the surface of water when one is struggling to the surface. Here we can sense the inspiration of genres like IDM and vaporwave is apparent.

Renew picks up at a pacy and welcome rhythm. The percussive layers are multitudinous and well thought-out, providing a sense of speed from the very outset of the track. A squelching bass sound provides the ground work for a simplistic bass line. With this comes the din of wordless choirs. The sounds of which slip through to us like lashes of rain. The inclusion of such choirs is definitely an affectation of future garage songs, and SUN CORP employs them beautifully here. We do not completely feel their presence in the track, but the echoes of their lamenting voices is unmistakable. This aspect of the track, combined with shivering hi-hats and speedy bass drum hits is enough to keep us hooked until the end.

Though brevity is apparent in the EP, SUN CORP wastes absolutely no time setting up shop as a soundsmith to be reckoned with. Pulling notably on a number of different movements and employing them with ease into a unique and exciting project, the producer teases a talent that should be taken note of.

Listen in full/purchase here: https://suncorp.sg/album/displacement