- Strange, slow and captivating sounds from a Manchester artist on the rise.
- For an EP with some hype around it—especially one on 2 B REAL—you might be surprised at the sounds on References. Manchester's Clemency makes slow, dark, droning dance music with the kicks in odd places. There's structure, but it's not the sturdy backbone of house or techno. Take "Biblical Names," a track that sounds like it's being dipped in and out of water, gurgling one moment and clear the next. Clemency finishes it off with some powerful square wave basslines that remind me of classic Untold: weird but straightforward, and unusually powerful.
Though her music feels strange at first, the kick drums hit in intuitive places. The even slower "Testimony" makes you come to it—there are no major changes through the track, but once you lock in, it all comes together. The synth notes are pitch-bent mirages of sound, and some well-placed wub-wubs give it an oomph, creating a viscous groove that keeps you glued. "Mimic Animals That Are Easy To Love" is the bad trip of the EP, with pitched-down animal sounds, a slippery drum pattern and an eventual descent into zany noise. Clemency already laid out an outré style with her Mutualism night and NTS show, and References confirms what many already suspected: that one of Manchester's greatest talents is just waiting to burst out.
Tracklist01. Testimony
02. Biblical Names
03. Mimic Animals That Are Easy To Love