Bleep

Five years after his forward-thinking debut Severant, Kuedo returns to Mike Paradina’s Planet Mu with his second album. Following an EP released on Knives, a label the Berlin-based composer co-founded to enable visionaries like J. G. Biberkopf or footwork queen Jlin, Slow Knife serves as evidence for his matured sound design.

Taking cues from film soundtracks, the album provokes rich visual associations, and thus feels like a soundtrack itself. From the creaking mutations of 'Bending Moon’ to the foreboding synths of ‘In Your Sleep’ with Wild Beasts’ Hayden Thorpe whispered vocals adding a shadowy touch – it wouldn’t be surprising to hear the opening pan flute of Michael Mann’s Manhunter coming in, the 1986 American crime horror film Kuedo credits his main inspiration to. The producer also revisits his previous flirtations with southern US trap: 'Floating Forest’ contrasts precise hi-hat rhythms with gun-fired drum splashes, a heavy bass and shivering synths. The plot thickens on the second half where the arrangements become more abstract – spectacularly showcased on the noisy ‘Broken Fox - Black Hole’ with Lumisokea’s Koenraad Ecker coaxing the most unsettling, panic-inducing tremolos in the highest registers out of his cello.