Black Midi have hit us with another single from their upcoming album Cavalcade that is sure to melt some faces and fry some brains.
Their previous lead single “John L” was exhilarating, a blend of layered, hyper math rock, prog and then some full on jazz fusion shredding. I was both shocked and not shocked at all that they managed to ramp up their brand of chaotic post-punk-no-wave-math-rock fusion even more, and “Slow” keeps up their break neck pace.
This track is fronted by bassist/occasional vocalist Cameron Picton, whose hushed spoken word and droning sung vocals juxtaposes Geordie Greep’s blazing guitar riffs beautifully. This track brings back the bands notable use of loud-quiet dynamics, which sounds less like the structured sound of Pixies and leaves you with more of a “what the fuck just happened, where is this going” kind of reaction. The chromatic and blazing guitars paired with Morgan Simpson’s unbelievably tight drumming transition into a hushed and sustained clean section, into some chaotic and atonal guitar soloing and eventually into a reverb drenched ambient section. If I were to talking about every different beat and phase this song goes through I’d be here for hours.
So far Cavalcade is shaping up to be a very, very worthy successor to 2019’s thrilling and forward thinking Schlagenheim, an album that seemed impossible to step up on. Cavalcade is out May 28th on Rough Trade records and can be pre-ordered here.