This is a mysterious new four-track EP from Cambridge musician Perfect Machine, with a set of contrasting songs mainly built around many and varied electronic sounds.
The opening song ‘It’s Love (Again)’ features guest vocals from Cail Baroni, which is about the only piece of information given by the CD sleeve and website (but they do feature some great images of stars!). A minimal pulsing beat and whispered voice starts off before building in intensity and a big late-period Depeche Mode style hookline from Cail.
If this is ‘love (again)’ it sounds a bit scary.”..we pierce our hearts, tattoo our skin with lies…”
‘Sunrise With Me’ is a peaceful concoction of keyboards, percussion and quiet lyrics, with some lovely descending scales like a waterfall of 80s synthesisers. The title track ‘Burn’ is a heavier prospect, with bassy notes and layers of vocals. The instrumental breaks veer into doom-laden prog-rock territory. Good stuff indeed.
My favourite is ‘Lost In The City’, a childhood nightmare of paranoia set to an electronic 1920s Berlin style soundtrack, featuring what I think is real clarinet, but who can be sure? The disturbing atmosphere resolves as the song continues and it ends in a sort of ambiguous but optimistic way. Probably.
Give this EP some repeated listens, it is unlike anything I have heard this year from the Cambridge music scene and not a guitar in sight…
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