It's been five years since his acclaimed debut ,Severant" and time has proved it prescient; its futuristic trap influence is now ubiquitous. ,Slow Knife" seems to return to where ,Severant" left off, but with the intricate sound design of last year"s haunting EP ,Assertion Of A Surrounding Presence" subsumed into the compositions, making them more exacting and beautifully crafted. Between albums Kuedo has been working as a sound designer and composer for hire and the application of intent and widescreen rigour that commercial work requires has definitely found its way into the new album. ,Slow Knife" has the subtlety, ambition and pacing of a brilliant soundtrack - a sense of an album of scenes, that easily lends itself to an impressionistic narrative. ,Slow Knife" is almost two albums; the first half, according to Kuedo, invokes the seduction of the city, taking the music of Michael Mann's ,Manhunter" as a cue, with the latter half being inspired by the bloody starscapes and voodoo wilderness of films such as ,Angel Heart" and ,Night Of The Hunter". The songs of the albums first half are synthetic and seductive, a gelatinous veil underpinned with dusky unsettling shadows and atmosphere. ,In Your Sleep", perhaps features the vocals of Hayden Thorpe from Wild Beasts, who settles his dark, whispered vocals into the moonlit shadowy atmosphere. ,Floating Forest" is the first track to allow back some of Kuedo's experimentation with the Southern rap template, which he explored before it became commonplace, with echoed drum splashes and a sinister repetitive motif, ending. The second half of the album enters wilderness territory with ,Approaching"'s slow descending notes, before ,Broken Fox - Black Hole" where undulating chords play hide and seek with riotous reeds and scratchy strings grown from collaborations with cello player Koenraad Ecker (from Lumisokea). ,Breaking The Surface" shivers and coils before metal and strings dominate while ,In Your Skin" feels like being lost in a vast hinterland before ,Warmer Light" introduces some memories of sunshine, with its plucked bassline and spiralling dub. ,Halogen Light" opens with the sound of crickets and a clear piano, cleansing the soul before ,Lathe" brings things down to earth with a short, yet powerful coda.
