Darkly political electronicisms
Who?
“Dread voyeurism” is how London artist Fred Lomas, aka Kinn, half-jokingly describes the dark soundscapes of his latest album, ‘Dogtooth’. His skilful compositions build on engulfing drones, with elements of post-rock, neoclassical and contemporary electronics. Think Godspeed You! Black Emperor experimenting with industrial and found sound electronica, and you’re halfway there.
Why Kinn?
The sheer intensity of ‘Dogtooth’ could only have come from a personal place. Working as a college music teacher during the pandemic, responsible for counselling young people experiencing isolation, Lomas took a deep dive into his own existence and the sounds of his formative years (The Microphones, Sonic Youth and Boards Of Canada) to figure out what they mean today. ‘Dogtooth’ is a personal confession as much as anything. The experiences of others were sucked into this work as initial sketches from studio sessions and were augmented by a friend’s cello, guitar, viola and drums, before being deconstructed and re-built, with each part meticulously placed in Loma’s jigsaw of dystopia. From the opener, ‘Have We Recovered, From Our Dreaming…’, which carries the same poetic weight as GY!BE’s ‘Dead Flag Blues’, to the closing track,‘Unwound’, a 19-minute, minimalist industrial-drone epic with slowed synth-stabs that parts to reveal an inner beauty of chimed piano, ‘Dogtooth’ is a stark and rewardingly dense work of art that is near impossible to skip.
Tell Us More…
The accomplished work of ‘Dogtooth’ hasn’t just sprouted from nowhere. Lomas spent a decade releasing anonymous music collaboratively with producer Sam KDC, working in studios alongside artists like Kanye West (an experience which turned him away from commercial work towards the avant-garde). The Kinn nickname comes from a short-lived graffiti alias, and is one of several he picked up as teenager.
‘Dogtooth’ is out on First Light
