REVIEW: Sleep D Release Debut Album 'Rebel Force'
Packed to the brim with gritty acid basslines, tight percussive phrases and an ominous ambience throughout, Sleep D delivers a stellar debut LP…
It’s the summer of 2006. Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos, both attending high-school in Melbourne’s South-East suburb of Frankston, are introduced by a mutual friend and combine their musical super-powers to create a mix-tape for their school’s annual swimming carnival. Devastatingly, the mix-tape was never used. But really, who is laughing now, huh? Who? This fateful debut collaboration would see the birth of one of Melbourne’s most important musical duos, Sleep D, and the local music scene has never been the same.
In the past 10 years, Sleep D have gifted us a plethora of creative pleasures. Whether in the form of their live sets at Golden Plains in 2015 and 2017, their notorious Butter Sessions imprint label, their 2014 Melbourne Boiler Room set, collaborative productions with Jayda G, Fett Burger, and Albrecht La’Brooy, and of course countless incredible EP’s ranging from their debut EP Bacon, up to their more recent projects Red Rock and U+Zone all released on Butter Sessions. Finally, the duo has delivered a stunning debut LP ‘Rebel Force’ on Anthony Naples and Jenny Slattery’s record label Incienso, and it’s well been worth the wait.
While their creative beginnings very much fit within the foundations of ‘club music’ they’ve come into their own in recent years, Rebel Force being the perfect example of their sonic maturation and fusion of left field genres.
Sleep D at Red Light Radio Amsterdam in 2019
The album’s opening ‘Red Rock (IV Mix)’ presents itself as a spaced-out experimental piece with guttural, grounded worldly percussion. The tantalisingly slow nature within this as well as in track ‘Twin Turbo’ has an almost seductive quality to it, while of course featuring the quintessential Sleep D sound that incorporates crystal clear, widespread percussive hits and an ominous ambience throughout. Tracks ‘Central’ and ‘Danza Mart’ reinstate a gritty distortion that feels much more like a dirty 5 AM rave. The latter of the two relying heavily on a filtered acid line and cleverly syncopated vinyl scratches. It makes for a beautiful union between techno and UK garage/hip-hop.
For those quenching for something a little slower, look no further than ‘Fade Away’, probably the closest thing to a house track on the entire EP. A relentless high hat and bassline go 1 on 1 for the whole 7 minutes; cleverly arranged percussion reinforce the ominous ambience that Sleep D personifies while giving the vibe that it could uphold a peak time club dance-floor. ‘Jazz’ is highly reminiscent of their 2017 collaboration with Albrecht La'Brooy on Analogue Attic. It offers the opportunity to exhale using beautifully arranged sweeping synthesizers, while maintaining a heavily distorted bassline to remind you that this isn’t a vacation, it’s a god damn Sleep D LP, and you better pay attention.
The LP concludes with ‘Pearlescent Skyline’ which firstly, is the best name, and secondly is the best possible ending to Rebel Force. The heavy focus on ambience and the warm chord progression leaves a pleasant flavour that lingers in your earholes long after you finished it. Consistently building, with a new element being added every few bars, it acts as a stunning finale to a stellar project.
Sleep D gear up to debut this album live at the Nightcat this Fri 15th Nov with Japanese artist Kuniyuki who featured on the record with collaborative track ‘Morning Sequence’, with support from Noise In My Head and Darcy Justice.
