Locality Reviews: Edward Scissortongue

Edward Scissortongue is quickly rising through the UKHH ranks, bringing his unique blend of oddball behaviour and visceral, fantastical story telling to the masses and after critically acclaimed success for his 2012 debut "BETTER.LUCK.NEXT.LIFE", he returns with a story driven EP which is set to make its mark on the scene in a big way. High Focus is extremely reputable for its ever expanding, yet massively impressive label and this EP has been highly anticipated since it was first mentioned to us back at Boom Bap festival in 2013, where we were lucky enough to catch up with him in the early hours of the morning. Even back then, he knew this would be a proud achievement quoting it as his best work to date. After a couple of listens it's obvious to see the high level of hard work that has gone into the EP.

The Theremin EP is a 7 track conceptual epic featuring massive sci-fi sound scapes and a dark, man-vs-machines themed narrative that grips the listener as it guides you through a twisted, thought provoking vision of an apocalyptic future. The intro begins with big sweeping pads and a haunting melody, building slowly. This sets the scene and foreshadows the mood for the upcoming tracks and also gives the listener a few minutes to prepare for the journey ahead. The music on the whole EP compliments the sci-fi and dark themes perfectly giving an overall epic feel to the finished product.

The EP reunites Scissortongue with Lamplighter who featured heavily on his last album and helped shape the sonic landscapes on both records with his dark, ominous synths, tones and minimalistic syncopated beats. Also featured on production is New York based Eon Ra, LDZ and Problem Child's producer Sumgii, Konchis, Miles Courtney and Dirty Dike.

A clever mix of slow churning strings, eerie vocals and melodies, droning ambient synths and hypnotic beats encompass the atmosphere of Scissortongues twisted visions of mans metaphorical and possible future. Each artist on the EP helps mould the canvas for this dark dystopian fable-esque story, designed to make you listen attentively to the many layers the narrative has to offer.

As to not spoil the story for anyone, we will only give brief clues as to our own interpretations of it. Trust us, its definitely worth sitting down and listening to this with a fresh perspective. Throw aside preconceived notions, for both music and story telling because Scissortongue and his boys don't mind stepping outside the box and straying away from the unconventional.

Reoccurring themes of androids and end-of-the-world scenarios, a land rife in despair, dealing with the aftermath of war amongst a civilization under constant threat. With ever diminishing humility all against the backdrop of the profound question; what is it to exist?

It is deep but that doesn't stop it from being a hugely enjoyable release, in fact, his story telling ability has raised the bar in our opinion. Its tightly woven intricate language and atmospherically drenched beats make this a stand out record and another milestone for Scissortongue and the High Focus crew. The Theremin EP kind of caught me off guard, I knew it would be good, but had no idea HOW good! This is definitely his best work to date and seems to get better the more you listen to it.