More about: Slow Knife

Too Late For The Past is the debut album by Slow Knife, a group that lurk around the alternative music scene of Manchester and Salford. Their first full length is both musical and cinematic.

The album has strong no-wave credentials given that it was both produced by, and features vocal samples provided by, Lydia Lunch—but this album is not simply a ‘no-wave’ album. Instead, it is a dense accumulation of influence. The sound, with its sinuous links to surrealism, is both bombastic and grotesque. All but one song stretches to six minutes with some, such as 'Post Aufklärung (triptych)' and 'The Nile', mutating into different forms and different genres along the way. The persistent anchor throughout the album is Daniel John Tasker’s poetry which is often times bizarre, erratic and realist. All of these elements make Too Late For The Past a true achievement; an album that trendier London bands wish they could create.

The band have a clear filmic influence. 'Asa Nisi Masa', with its Fellini-inspired lyrics and music video are integral to the band’s absurdist image. The music likewise feels inspired. The rhythms are informed by free jazz and krautrock with a healthy dose of drone. The band seamlessly channel Tony Conrad while tapping into the structured chaos of Ornette Coleman.

The urgency of 'Nuke The Moon' feels like an astrological chase scene; the pace keeping you suspended in tension while the lyrics make you laugh, cry or both at the same time. The noir-esque composition of 'The Revenant' feels seedy and carries with it all the sleaze of a Birthday Party outtake. Elsewhere the steady, ghost-like, atmosphere of 'Emblems' feels like a slow dance in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, showing the depth in the versatility at the heart of the group’s talent.

The more haunting elements of the album come directly from Eleanor Battle’s harmonium and theremin, and elsewhere the driving rhythms between Sam Jack Brewer and Connor Haynes keep the chaos in check. The production should also be noted for its sharpness. Binaural recordings add an intimacy along with illusory tape loops and samples from news radio programmes.

There is something sinister about Slow Knife. Perhaps it’s their B-movie-inspired aesthetic or maybe it’s the intellectual intimidation found within the lyrics. Either way, Slow Knife may not be to everyone’s taste, but perhaps they’ll scratch an itch you never knew you had.

Too Late For The Past arrives 26 February via Fr33zehead.

Issue Two of the Gigwise Print magazine is on sale now! Buy it here.

More about: Slow Knife