- The debut EP from US one woman producer / song writer / violinist / and singer, Sudan Archives was easily one of the most memorable from last year, with the well noted autodidact violin playing being manipulated, looped reused through a digital looping station, reproduced over off-kilter beats, and subdued vocals whisked together as garnish. Driving strings were propagated not for their usual whine but for the direct and sharp effect they emanated when used for percussion. It hollowed out a foothold not yet fathomed. Despite this unique style, a few songs came across as half-fleshed out ideas brimming with infinite potential. Here, on the sophomore release of Sink, this relatively young artist continues to exercise her freewheeling, avant-garde approach to a primarily classic instrumental. Launching from this foothold, Sink expands upon this untapped blend.
Beginning the EP is the title track, which admittedly took some warming to: as an isolated entity it strayed too far from Sudan Archive’s slightly bombastic mantra, succumbing to a more sterile, less organic sound. For an alternative r&b record, that criticism can seem odd but given the penchant for experimental uses of her tools, it does fall short. If it had been half the length and padded out more with that tranquil forest soundbite, Sink would have been better utilized as an intro track, taking advantage of its brevity. That is pretty much my only gripe with this release because otherwise, it’s a refined, thought out, and well assembled outing. It percolates the songs to the ideal boiling time and brings all these ideas she's got into a much more cohesive project. Plucked strings pizz their way through Nont For Sale, keep its waving rhythm moving forwards. Locked in over sporadic, booming kicks, and flickering high end percussion, it also gives us the first insight into the relaxed aggression of the lyrics. Her strong voice is equally matched with themes of staunch independence, affirming solidarity, and sheer self-belief. Knitting such strong content in behind flirting and unusual compositions leaves you stunned and triggers an insatiable need to keep revisiting; like you were looking, endlessly, for a subliminal message masked by beautiful music. Additional percussion comes from musique-concrete , not unlike French producer Jacques, being suspiciously organic against otherwise digital shadows, as exampled on Mistake & Beautiful Mistake, the former of which doubles down on the relaxed aggression of Nont For Sale.
The deeper you dive, the more saturated and flourished these songs become as buried or brief breaths of new instruments arrive as quickly as they scurry away. That backdrop of nature sounds, and every other free space has been plugged with nattering clips. Snuck in sounds have been placed so meticulously in a way that is bolsters to off-the-wall feeling. Each listen will prick your ears up to another different sound and despite the short track list and run time, nothing here will grow stale.
Juxtaposing both analogue and digital sounds so delicately, and using her multi-layered, dreamy production as a bridging medium, Sudan Archives has expanded the unique take of a primarily tonal instrument. Transmuting it all through an unconventional marriage of loops, and fluttering sounds, Sink is a strikingly individual work by a young artist. Keep an eye of this one.
- Matt Lynch.