SickElixir review: grotesque, gorgeous dance music”>
Blawan. Photo by Ryley Paskal.
What could an industrial mincer on a maggot farm possibly sound like? A cacophony of motors, desperate squirming, and the soft, wet slap of meat against meat. Jamie Roberts, the English electronic producer known as Blawan, came across the machine at a job at age 14, and says that a “clanging sound” from the machine would influence his music. His fascination with this kind of sound — and how its surrounding context intensifies its discordance — has been present across Blawan’s career. From his breakout 2012 song “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage,” Blawan has made ugliness a central part of his sound. On his excellent new album SickElixer, he pulls off an unprecedented balance with beauty, pushing his sonic identity to exciting new regions.
Despite the overwhelmingly industrial sound, it would be facile to call it SickElixer “dystopic” when there’s so much pleasure at its heart. These are unmistakable dancefloor fillers, but in place of celebratory vocal runs are unintelligible, addled grunts, its melodies mutating on a whim instead of hooking directly into your subconscious. That makes sticking with the album all the more rewarding: “NOS” offers breathless, obsidian sensuality in its clubby beats, while “Style Teef” starts with a classic Detroit techno drum line and becomes increasingly elusive and frazzled. At its heart, SickElixer is a beacon for curious listeners who want to lose themselves in beats as much as discover new ways of arriving at that ecstasy. It’s a bold gamble, and pays off immensely.
