Whether the decision to release Drownscapes, a new (as described on the press release) sonic adventure from Locust Toybox, aka David Firth, on the eve of Halloween was accidental or planned, there’s a certain other worldliness and beauty about it that can be at once beautiful and slightly unsettling.
Although best known as an animation artist, in particular Salad Fingers, Leeds based Firth has always made music and is a good friend of Brainfeeder label boss Flying Lotus, who are putting out the release. He’s recently joined the Brainfeeder Films family to share his most recent animated creations: ‘Cream’ and ‘Umbilical World’ and worked with FlyLo on his debut feature film ‘Kuso’. He’s composed the soundtracks for these, but has also released standalone albums when he finds the time.
Of Drownscopes, Firth says ‘I really wanted the misty bleakness of Northern England to come across. It’s an exploration of spacious areas, of descending into comforting madness, of being submerged under miles of water, surprised you are still able to breathe. I think almost every track has been used in my cartoons and videos somewhere,’ he says. ‘It isn’t a soundtrack album, it’s more of a best of the last 3 years of my atmospheric output. I incorporated a lot of field recordings that I made in my local surroundings”, he continues. For example the track ‘Pipeo is based around recordings of a large water pipe that David climbed into with a selection of instruments. This recording technique has its pitfalls though: I live on quite a noisy street so sometimes I just hang a mic out of the window and record the youths and drug dealers. I sometimes worry they’ll see the mic and think I’m gathering evidence,’ he laughs.
There’s this gentle heartbeat to Saptiro, taken from the album. Warm synths and found sounds flicker, glistening in their collective beauty, and surrounded by this static sound, like an old recording, which adds this eeriness to it. It grabs your attention and slowly morphs and flowers into something thats warm and beautiful.
Check it out, here
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