Thursday 12 September 2019

Pitch Black 'Third Light' Review







Artist: Pitch Black



Title: Third Light



Label: Dubmission Records



Released: 13th September 2019










One of New Zealand’s hottest exports return with eight tracks of sonic pleasure to push through your speakers and into your lugholes. Following on from the recent single and teaser for this album ‘Artificial Intolerance’ and a pre-cursor to their tour.


We get underway with ‘The Silver World’ where a melodic loop leads into a crisp static atmosphere and dubby chords, this is soon followed by indistinct vocal snippets and piano notes that add an element of beauty. If I’m honest this is a tad unexpected and throws me in mind somewhat of Massive Attack. All I can say is what a start! I’m in no way disappointed with where they take us next on ‘One Ton Skank’ the slow paced piano chords in the intro add a darker feel and again the vocals are indistinct. Then when they drop the looped sequencer, woah another winner.


By this point we reach the title track ‘Third Light’ which is atmospheric and gritty with crisp drum patterns that leads to the stereotypical reggae chords intertwined with fx and harmonic looped sequences that just lift and drop the piece in all the appropriate places. This is followed by the bleepy intro of the aforementioned single ‘Artificial Intolerance’ which if you haven’t heard by now takes you on a slow paced atmospheric journey through the light and the dark, that is until stuttering electronics and drum and bass completes the excursion in the latter third of the track.


We then move on to ‘Daylight Wasting’ a twitchy piece of electronic dub with lush waves of warm synths and harmonic tones that lovingly drift into those dubby echoes. Whilst ‘The Lake Within’ again employs those piano keys in an almost dubbed out jazz fashion that still manages to maintain the atmosphere created throughout the album.


There’s a slightly dark feeling to the intro of ‘A Doubtful Sound’ with a slow plodding beat and really apt spoken words, before it switches to a growling dnb fusion and I’m sold. To see us out ‘Did you get the Message’ re-affirms the piano notes enveloped in atmospheric synths and field recordings of waves and nature. Just like the opener this closer is another piece of beauty.


Reviewed by Woodzee


Links





Catch them live


17/10: Neck of the Woods, Auckland
19/10: White Night, Napier
24/10: San Fran, Wellington
25/10: Church Steps, Nelson
07/11: Sebright Arms, London
08/11: Sebright Arms, London
09/11: Être Révélé, Paris
10/11: OCCII, Amsterdam with Uncle Fester on Acid and Ramses
13/11: Crofters Rights, Bristol
14/11: 23 Bath St, Frome
15/11: The Tin, Coventry with dr trippy and 100th Monkey
16/11: Panke, Berlin with qnp and Bill Robin

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