September 2nd sees the release of this (brilliantly titled) mini album by London based art project Lung Dart aka Tim Clay and James Rapson. I say art project, as to call the Lung Dart a ‘band’ would do them some injustice. Having previously used their music to score short films that have been shown at the Tate Modern and to score a show at London Fashion Week, as well as using their music to create a two day installation at the end of this month, Lung Dart really are harking back to the days of COUM happenings/experimentation that spawned Throbbing Gristle. This art school influence/pretension is just a perfect breeding ground.
Opener and lead track ‘Healthy Functional Tissue’ is full of secondary recorded piano and lovely distorted ethereal vocals over the top. It is repetitive and probably looped, yet the overall effect is very emotive and lovely. In contrast ‘Totem’ has quite a big sound with vocals to match. It has a simple beat running throughout and the overall effect is quite downbeat. Still very effective though.
‘Please Font Worry’ is another piano piece that sounds very out of tune. The effect is quite eerie, yet it is overwhelmingly beautiful in its execution. Following this is the quite bombastic, noisy ‘One Day You Just Stop’. Punctuated with some field recordings (is that a Welsh accent i hear?), ‘One day you just stop’ is probably the most danceable track on this LP. Great stuff.
‘Wrung out’ is again another (field?) recording of a piano set against big vocals. This slow and haunting mellow track then adds strings and the whole song just keeps expanding, yet is still hauntingly slow. With the (purposely) lo-fi recording techniques used, this song seems too big for them. It’s beautiful and has the grandiose weight of Elbow to it, albeit recorded down a telephone. Intriguing.
‘Reverse 1 (A Whim)’ is exactly that. A reversed track that sounds like it’s being sung underwater and even though it is reversed, with this band, it could easily be going the right way! ‘Caliope’ sounds like it is mostly comprised of field recordings from either a cafe or a shop. Percussion adds to the sounds to create some meaning and order to the track. It ends up being quite beautiful.
‘Tuvalu’ is made up of some soft breathing that has been looped. Field recordings are added on top and the rest has big choral singing over the top. It’s quite overwhelming. ‘People Die, Thing Last Forever’ starts with a piano, but this time it is quite distorted or multi-recorded. Then a clarinet comes in (and/or possibly a saxophone) and the staccato sounds are reminiscent of The Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The orchestration rises to quite a crescendo. A nice piece.
Final track ‘Squeeze’ is, for me, THE stand out track of the LP. The background noise that envelopes and encompasses this track is a field recording of a fireworks display. It is looped over more hauntingly played piano which comes in and melds perfectly with the fireworks. Suddenly we are presented with a male voice torch singer that is either another field recording or one of the band. Either way, it sounds like the end of a bust night at a social club or drunken wedding, yet sung to perfection. The singing continues and then strings are introduced, becoming one of the most beautiful songs i have heard in a long time. Absolutely sublime and it genuinely nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Lung Dart are fearless in what they do and aren’t afraid to experiment, loop, repeat, record, repeat, experiment, repeat or loop whatever sounds they find or create. It’s what they do with these sounds that make this band and LP so special. Definitely ones to look out for either at your local club, festival, or more than likely at your local art gallery. Brilliant stuff.
