The band is composed of Dan Nicholls, a keyboardist who has also worked with Matthew Herbert and Squarepusher, and Joshua Blackmore, a drummer (Troyka), and Matt Calvert, a guitarist and synth man (Three Trapped Tigers and Heritage Orchestra). Their debut album, Brokespeak, has been released. It’s an album that transcends genre and doesn’t need to be time-stamps. Their music is intensely fast and explosive, with intricate complexities and fast tempos. However, they retain an accessible quality through their fluid grooves and engaging melodic intuition. Nicholls feels that the group has taken this approach almost deliberately. “Our music seems naturally to have moved towards making something simple from something complex – whether that be a lopsided beat that is somehow danceable or a combination of patterns which form a melody or improvisations in which the instruments seem to blend together,” says Nicholls. The group also interlocks through Blackmore’s intricate and dynamic beats, Calvert’s riffs, which shift from crunching noise into ecstatic beats to sound to the group. At times, the result feels chaotic and jittery. It’s a scattering assault of math-rock explorations. There are also soaring post rock guitars. It is accompanied by pulverizing electronics and grooves from Africa. It’s chaotic and jittery, but it has a sense of fluidity and control that gives it depth and cohesion. The album’s jazz tinge makes it sound like something you would find on Flying Lotus Brainfeeder label. The group’s originality is the heart of their explorations. Nicholls pointed out that even the album title feels like a symbol of their unique output and approach. “The title is for me an expression of this idea of strange-sounding rhythms or melodies, like broken languages that make sense in their own way. It’s weird, off-kilter and a little strange. They have created their own music that spans genres and styles in an attempt to avoid or destroy any form of singular genre exploration. It is only by listening to the music that you can hear what it sounds like. Bandcamp
