2023 reissue on green & clear vinyl - Across different genres and tempos, Felix Manuel has always had a knack for theatricality. Breathless spoken word, spectral singers and ornate strings are all key ingredients of a sound that, when done tastefully, makes for gripping electronic music. But apply them too liberally and they turn overbearing, which happened on his debut album, Seven Lies, in 2013. Now Manuel reemerges on Samurai Red Seal with two of his strongest cuts in years.
"Plantain" captures what made Manuel's earliest material so enticing, with serpentine string samples and operatic vocals that shimmer like a mirage. The track moves with a start-stop shudder that mirrors the scuttle of ENA, another Samurai artist, before it sidesteps into a tribal groove that slams just as hard but with a more supple swing. "What I Was Doing When I Was Doing What I Was Doing" is like an anxiety attack translated into music. Built on a glitchy bed of breaks, the main melodic elements are clipped gasps and snippets of phrasing—the kind you'd hear in old dubstep tracks—which sound terse and exciting, putting the sometimes overwrought qualities of Djrum's music in a new light.
| A | Plantain |
| B | What I Was Doing When I Was Doing What I Was Doing |
