Spectral Twist comes from Bishop Auckland in the UK and marks the fascinating solo project by the innovative artist responsible for Dead Skin Project. Indeed, this daring and exciting endeavor is a conscious move in art that offers a platform for producing more quirky and adventurous songs as opposed to their earlier work, which was mainly punk with a strong protest element. Taking cues from the eccentric and mysterious music of bands such as Cardiacs and XTC, Spectral Twist creates music that enjoys complete freedom and does not take itself too seriously. The project released their two-track conceptual EP entitled The Night The Numbers Died on July 5th. Let us give a red carpet welcome to this underground gem and explore all of its glories.
The opening song is instantly explosive, with an urgent drum rhythm pulsing underneath a flurry of electronic sounds produced by a distorted synthesizer, which is immediately followed by an aggressively synchronized guitar riff that cuts through the mix with surgical precision. “The Night The Numbers Died” tells a darkly cinematic tale of how one night, the computer servers of the banks around the world suddenly shut down forever, leaving everyone to watch as the citizens’ digital savings disappeared, and machines took over the new world of manual labor. In this world, screens don’t exist anymore and it seems like the people in this world are very much freaking out because, this shutdown has made everyone equal. Through this song, we can admit that a lot of the division in the world is due to these machines meaning that if they are to shutdown one day, there will be chaos but, also equality. The music is set to a powerful vocal delivery that is able to combine cynical indifference with urgency and a snarl that is straight out of punk rock, slicing clearly through the complex arrangement. The music itself is strongly influenced by post-punk and industrial rock sounds, employing driving bass lines, aggressive snare beats, and twitchy guitar work to reflect the digital confusion outlined in the song lyrics. Its effect on the listener is nothing less than stunning in its disorientation, inducing an abrupt and awkward laugh at our common addiction to digital numbers.
While the second track starts with a deep bass groove supported by a slowly reverberating percussion hit, creating a dark and comedic clinical vibe, the song ends up with an abrupt transition of a bright and cynical piano chord progression. The lyrics to “Formerly Wealthy Support Group” take listeners on another journey, a journey that continues the story or theme in the first song. In this song, introduces the main characters in the song struggling to adapt to their sudden financial demise. It is a world that shows the absurd psychoanalysis of high society people having to gather around in circles and realize they have lost all their inherited status and privileges because of the new algorithm system. The musical elements are evident in the gritty, street-smart vocals that include the sarcasm of warmth and theater acting skills that bring out the pathos in the complaint of the poor rich and the funny nature of the whole concept. In addition, the instrumentation makes use of the raw and unrefined garage rock style with walking bass lines, sliding guitar riffs, and rhythms that add to the timing of the lyrical humor. This is very rewarding and witty.
What makes this EP amazing is the incredible fun, satirical and entertaining look at an interestingly reconstructed world, a world free of billionaires that acts as an amazing space for Spectral Twist to create and have a lot of fun doing so. What really sets this work apart is its cohesive nature, taking the listener straight into a fascinating audio dystopia that is both captivating and incredibly witty. It is the individualistic nature of this artist that has produced an extremely unique and personal sound that makes Spectral Twist stand out as an exciting and unorthodox new talent in the current musical world. His work will leave you wide-eyed, thoughtful, and absolutely entertained. It is amazing and I can’t wait to hear what this amazing artist comes up with next.
Stream “The Night That Numbers Died” EP on Spotify
