Clark
SUS DOG
(CD)
Throttle / THROT007CD
CD
Electronic Album
For years Clark's best work has toggled between beauty and brutality, blistering noise and otherworldly calm. Sus Dog is also situated between those two poles, but in leveraging his voice like this, Clark has discovered not only a new way to guide listeners through his maze-like production, but also of expressing the strain of navigating such wild terrain" - Pitchfork
This is Chris Clark's tenth studio album released in May 2023, the electronic artist choosing to marry his signature volatile pin-sharp production to the introduction of his own emotive vocals. Challenging himself to fantasise what a record might sound like "if the Beach Boys took MDMA and made a rave record" Clark looked to Thom Yorke to assist in an executive production role, an ideal companion considering Yorke's most recent flights to the world of immersive electronica.
There's also plenty of occasions where the compositions lean towards cinematic soundscapes particularly on the unnerving distortion of 'Forest'. However unlike on his 'Growl Garden' EP where vocals were used in a more chilling and dystopian role, those on the likes of 'Dolgoch Tape' are far more reverential and tender, closer to the spellbound serenity found on a Sufjan Stevens LP. Vocals funnelled into textures rather than dominant leads.
Highlighting the album's contrasts and bonds between human and machine The Guardian described it as "wandering free from structure, deploying sunbursts of synths and metallic percussion, nailing melodies into your primitive brain."[info sheet from distr.]