Treacly bass thuds at the very beginning of Gwan Ireland, pulling streams of fizzling feedback with it as it hits.…

Treacly bass thuds at the very beginning of Gwan Ireland, pulling streams of fizzling feedback with it as it hits. A beautifully warm piano melody hunkers itself away from the hard-hitting percussion. Sunken Foal wastes no time introducing the listener to the track, a beautiful positive-sounding world envelops us. As the huge snare begins to hit, Sunken Foal finds a swift pace to move at, allowing the synth to open up its frequency range. The melody is graceful and emotive as it travels further and further out into the depths of the mix. Effortlessly combining violent percussive elements with a friendly and familial melody, the artist lets the bass spread itself over the floor of the track for a bit before swiping it up again. The care taken with the drum sequences is evident, ever-changing and engaging, they drop out momentarily. This allows the synth to seep into the mix before falling away. Its a truly unique track that boasts an effortless style and a lot of heart.

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The b-side takes a more artificial tact at the start. A calculated algorithm of drum machine hits bubble in front of the listener. The bass hits, showing us a little more of the stereo field. The melody is more sinister this time around, flitting in time with the massive percussion. Voices appear, chopped and syncopated within the rhythm. Beats whir and weasel their way past the spoken samples before the bass drum hits again, taking us back into the infectious rhythm. Spindly notes claw their way up to the top of the piles of sound as a pad-like shroud moves in and out. Voices swipe out at the listener on beat, it sounds like an 80s rap style verse is being spit. But all of the syllables have been chopped and rearranged. It gives the track a real sense of character. The bells reach up in pitch once again, before submerging into a cold synth pad sound. The sample reveals itself at the end, a charismatic MC spits bars until a quintessential British voice says ‘you have a good flight back to America won’t you?’

The two tracks present a tremendous amount of production skill between them. Weaving elaborate melodies with heavy-handed rhythm, Sunken Foal brings a style of electronic dance music that has as much heart as it has beat.

Purchase/listen in full here: https://frontendsynthetics.bandcamp.com/album/gwan-ireland