WTF is indie?

While my opinions on Sigha's debut 'Living With Ghosts' remain lukewarm, 'Ascension' is definitely a standout track. Its subterranean bass mantra is overlooked by shyly fluttering industrial rhythms, and these combine to give the track a sense of intimacy that feels as intangible as it does colossal. In a genre defined by unforgiving repetition, this music's eerily emotive nature is impressive in its craftsmanship - an achievement I've only noticed on tracks like Recondite's 'Tie In' this year (my opinion, shoot me).

On first listen, it is apparent that Burial's influences have widened since the release of the 'Kindred EP' earlier this year, although 'Truant / Rough Sleeper' continues William Emmanuel Bevan's exploration into longer, more developed tracks than one would typically expect from a Burial release. The tracks are around 12 and 14 minutes long respectively, although they are each comprised of a number of sections (which could pass as separate pieces if it wasn't for the hissing vinyl noise that bridges almost every gap between the two tracks' multiple phases). 

'Truant' shows Burial working with more soulful textures and chords than he usually might, and the opening section of this track is peppered with horn samples and female vocals that imply a more simplified version of his usual sound. A later phase of the track lays down a filtered bassline before introducing a fast-panned fluttering noise. While this produces pleasantly mind-numbing effects, the music beneath it seems to lack any kind of interesting development. The final section of 'Truant' is the most engaging, gradually transforming a cacophonous wall of industrial sounds into a dubstep-inspired rhythm - although this ends too abruptly.

'Rough Sleeper' immediately sounds like a higher-quality production than the former track, with a more pleasing mix. The organ chords that open up this track will be a surprise to any long-time Burial fan, but the rhythmic developments surrounding it feel in line with Bevan's direction on the Kindred EP. After nearly four minutes, the next phase begins, with a jittering 2-step beat that showcases good attention to detail but ultimately outstays its welcome. The final and longest section of this track is propelled forward by a crackling garage beat that reinstates Burial's signature sound but on a larger, noisier scale than ever before - a pitfall in my opinion, as the fine details and nuances in his previous releases are what have kept me coming back.

The modular nature of this EP makes these two tracks feel very inconsistent, with less detail and fine-tuning than can usually be found in Burial's work - giving this release less 'staying power' than I was hoping for. The musical sections feel like undeveloped ideas that have been hap-hazardly strung together, which is disappointing. His use of reverberated everyday samples (jangling keys etc) now seems to rely on its own individuality rather than adding anything to the musicality of the pieces. Despite some interesting ideas, 'Truant / Rough Sleeper' release feels underwhelming in comparison to the Kindred EP which was dropped earlier this year.