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Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is a warm, deeply personal collection of electronic music from a veteran artist who sounds born again.
Genre: Electronic, Ambient
Label: Throttle
Release Date: May 26, 2023
Vibe: 🕯️
I don’t want to overstate the involvement or influence of an executive producer credit, but, boy oh boy, can you hear Thom Yorke’s sensibility woven into the fabric of Sus Dog. After carving out a loyal following by producing mostly instrumental tracks, Clark uses his voice, along with those of Yorke and other collaborators, to add a new dimension to his music. It’s both a departure and a possible return to an emotional center for the artist, whose vocal delivery sounds so fragile at times you’re worried it’ll explode into a million pieces if dropped. It’s eerie and haunting in spots, yet somehow also incredibly warm and inviting. It’s the kind of project that could only come from a man who’s thrown all caution to the wind and embraced being pushed out of his comfort zone to such a degree, it sounds like he may never return.
Though the rave-ready parts of this album are enjoyable, such as “Town Crank” and “Clutch Pearlers,” the real stunners are the quieter moments. “Over Empty Streets” envelopes you in soupy synths and baroque-esque piano runs, while “Medicine” sounds like a studio outtake that would’ve been right at home on Kid A. The most intriguing moments happen on “Forest,” which plays like a mission statement for Clark’s creative abandon, melding ambient drone and spooky synth accents with acapella vocals that are so washed out, they’re transformed into part of the instrumental. Add to that the presence of field recordings and you have a listening experience that’s utterly transportive, putting you at the center of both a physical space and someone’s mind.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more adventurous and better-made electronic album this year.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈