By Monk
Chris Rush, the protagonist behind this largely solo, multi-instrumental foray into the world of darkwave progression, will be a name more than familiar to followers of a completely different musical mien as, for many years he was one half of the drum ‘n’ bass duo Calyx, becoming one of the leading pioneers of sounds subsequently christened with terms such as “techstep” and “neurofunk”: fuck, the dance genre has almost as many sub categories as our beloved rock ‘n’ roll. So, what is a man who has spent most of his career to date twiddling with binary codes and sampling other people’s work doing in the hallowed pages of this ‘ere journal? Well, he’s only completely changed direction from the hedonism of party-on-DJing to produce and record an album of nihilistic rock music…
The opening, title track sets the mood with its Muse-like atmospherics, both in the overall moodiness of the track’s feel and groove and particularly in Rush’s vocal delivery, which echoes Matt Bellamy so closely that it’s positively eerie. The rest of the album continues in much the same alt-prog mien, with the likes of ‘Time Machine’, ‘Heathen’ and ‘Burn The Sun not shifting far from the basic paradigm of heavily synthesized layers of sound building one upon the other, interjected by occasional stabs of acerbic guitar and overtopped by equally heavily stylized vocals which emphasize the dark undercurrent of the album.
While Rush’s drum and bass roots are clearly obvious in many places, such as some of the underlying beats and rhythms and more overt sections such as the intro to ‘Spin Til The End’, he’s also not afraid to push the envelope in the direction of more traditional rock-infused paths, such as the Jack White reminiscence of ‘Easy Trigger’, or cross genres with the gospel-inflected closing stomp of ‘Sing Their Song’.
Many artists struggle to find acceptance when they move outside a field in which they have previously gained recognition. As someone moving from one form of drum and bass to another, Chris Rush may find himself confronted with a similar struggle, but he comes well equipped to rise to the challenge with this competent, confident debut which experimentation with familiarity to good effect.
- ‘Questions’ is released on 25 November. You can get your copy HERE.
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