Bleep

Darren Cunningham is a mastermind of club esotericism. Across 25 years and since 2004 as Actress, he has twisted the tenets of dance music into his own inimitable sound, playing myriad roles on Splazsh, traversing chrome futures on AZD and romantic existential limbo on Karma & Desire (Bleep’s album of the year in 2020). With his latest album LXXXVIII, we catch a glimpse of the mind behind the music, peering beyond the bucket hat silhouette to reveal Actress’s inner strategies, yet through a sprawling chess metaphor, of course.

LXXXVIII rotates sculptural pieces, exploring form and an infinite number of moves throughout cerebral “luxury sonics”. Piano notes and clacking percussive details map checkered patterns on ‘Push Power ( a 1 )’, predicting the game’s evolutions in an ephemerally shifting electronic melange as Jonnine Standish of HTRK ponders, “Am I ahead of my time?” These possibilities are arranged in a nonlinear grid of tracks: checkmate comes not at the end but early on, with the vulnerable, ghostly vocals of a cornered king whispering on ‘Game Over ( e 1 )’. Thick distorted bass looms over him, exerting pressure as darting rhythms attempt to evade.

The slow whirring machinations of the mind manifest in Actress’s signature haze. ‘Green Blue Amnesia Magic Haze ( d 7 )’ is caught between moves, capturing the incremental crawl of the pawn towards promotion as it paces the club basement, a molten, moody sea of sauntering bass. Confluences of rippling notes emanate on ‘Hit That Spdiff ( b 8 )’, a strangely contemplative landscape where sludgy vocals are translated across the board. LXXXVIII is fertile with soundplay: bursts of arcade lasers and pulses carefully plot next steps, elegant pianos are bisected by shots of noise and 808 beats, and freezing blocks of synth buzz rise from the clatter of psychic clockwork.

Emerging from deep thought and invigorating club rhythms, LXXXVIII is a tactical move in Actress’s musical masterplan.