James Blake last week was quoted saying some negative things about ‘American’ dubstep. The feelings that he articulated weren’t new, nor is he alone in expressing them. American dubstep has become the new metal, with artists engaging in a warbling-bass pissing contest, duking it out for the 'heaviest drop’ or the dirtiest bassline. For years metal disciples have argued over which artist is the heavier or what REAL metal sounds like and these same arguments have now transcended metal and found a new home in the real-life YouTube comment section that is the dubstep fanbase.
James Blake’s blend of 'British dubstep’ is all about elongated, slow beats, particularly bass centric and light on all other percussion. This week sees the release of Blakian disciple Oliver Tank’s debut Dreams EP, and you’ll hear the relevance of these James Blake references the moment you hit play. It’s not the first time the comparison has been made and it sure as hell won’t be the last, but the [tastefully] autotuned vocals and the minimalist beats all ooze Blake.
As someone who’s seen both Blake and Tank play however, their live shows have little in common. While Blake does his very best to collapse lungs under the force of his rumbling bass, Oliver Tank’s live set represents the fruit of emotive songwriting, not pushing you away with weight but drawing you in with fragility. It’s gentle, it’s calm, it’s real. That’s not to say that Blake wasn’t mindblowing in his own way, but this is different to that.
Those that have been following the rise of Oliver Tank will recognize how quickly he’s come to the forefront of the Sydney hipster paradigm. Liquid Electric first dropped 'Slow motion’ on FBi back at the beginning of the year, before every blog, ever, picked up on it and then he, you know, toured Iceland and all that. It’s been a big year for O Tank.
As of today the dude has his debut out and it’s a strong piece of work. As mentioned earlier, Tank’s sound resonates with that of James Blake but there’s certainly less warbling bass in the mix. 'Last night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion’ is a gradual builder that crescendoes with the repeated phrase “you said it would be alright”. 'Up All Night’ to me, feels like a sister song to 'Last night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion’, mirroring the sentiments of the first with a similar turn of phrase.
Final track 'Grain of Sand’ sees Tank dropping in some male/female harmonies over twittering synth and lone notes on a piano. Conceptually the song caps off the EP very intentionally: A curse in slow motion. Dreams is a collection of songs about, you guessed it, dreams, and the cheeky references to one song within another slam home the hazy, disoriented, dreamlike nature of the work itself.
The EP as a whole is a strong debut offering from Oliver Tank. Its main weakness is also its strength in that the five tracks are quite similar with the upshot of this being that the work is sensationally cohesive, even just as an EP. Tank knows what he’s good at, working at emotive, delightfully and meticulously produced soundscapes. There’s a very, very bright future ahead for Oliver Tank if only he can find a way to tour these tracks purposefully. The answer might be, as it has been for many other Sydney artists this year, the loop pedal.
The EP is available digitally through Yes Please on a pay-what-you-feel-like-but-please-pay-at-least-something-you-massive-tightass system and can be streamed in it’s entirety below.
- Tommy Faith (SOUND DOCTRINE)
