After releasing some solo material under his own moniker, Christopher Smith decided to go away, get himself a band and come back with a new project. The first cut from said project is ‘Crushed Pleats’ and it seems as though Smith has made the right decision as the team have stumbled across something fantastic with their debut release.
‘Crushed Pleats’ is like standing on the edge of an abyss, precariously balanced, between pulling back or plummeting down in to the depths of where the track is seemingly born from. The bass-line can only be termed as one that prowls in the darkness but, until the crescendo, holds such a reliable beat it’s both unnerving and yet steady. The percussion and electronics help reenforce this feeling; they add light and colour when they come in to focus but, at the same time, they seem spectral– sent there to grab you with phantom hands. Smith’s vocals are glacial and precise over the top, almost feeling like whispers and echoes from inside the consciousness of Smith himself; like perhaps it is his spectre beckoning you to come with him and give over ‘Crushed Pleats’.
It’s like warring of two sides of your psyche– one that wants to trust the stability of it all and the other half that can feel the unease prickling at the back of your neck telling you that something about this whole atmosphere isn’t right.
The crescendo on the track is phenomenal– the final outreach that beckons you forth into the chasm that Dralms inhabit. The bass guitar echoes through the space, all-encompassing and sounding, for lack of a better term, bloody massive. The electronics filter through this wall of sound to give the flicker of light amongst the foreboding atmosphere as the bait to lure you in to just taking that one step further forward…
… we can’t wait to find out what awaits us down there.
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