It starts with an organic rhythm. If you’re attuned to your surroundings, present in your mind, you can pick up rhythm anywhere. The clicking of a train along the tracks, the buzz of an air conditioner, the clang of freshly cleaned dishes as they settle back in their correct places. Once you’ve located that rhythm, it can grow; it becomes textured. Your imagination takes it places you might not want it to go, as it coaxes your fears and insecurities out of hiding, and colours the natural world and the world inside your head.
“Monocult”, the first single from Plurality Trip by Crousetown, Nova Scotia’s JOYFULTALK, builds in this very way. Despite the sounds being totally electronic, it feels natural and emotionally pulverizing. It’s the sound of wires connecting in your brain. For a moment you’re enraptured in the glorious present, but as your cables connect, the horrifying and uncertain future creeps in. It chases you down until you can’t run anymore. You’re overtaken and no longer human . . .
Then, as the storm subsides, you think to yourself: “Damn, these synths sound good. I bet this band will break in Germany” and you take your seat on the subway.
