Ex-indie stars turned electro thrillers
Who?
A new electronic trio formed by Christian Davis, formerly of 1990s cult indie rockers Six By Seven and lauded shoegazers Spotlight Kid, TR^NKS weave the seismic spaciousness of Davis’ former bands into early Warp techno beats and pastoral ambient sounds. Their new EP, ‘Your Life / Your Lie’, ups the ante from their first two as an anthemic slice of dancefloor psych, all jittery beats and kinetic energy.
Why TR^NKS?
They emerged in October 2022 with ‘EP 1’, followed by the ‘Invisible EP’ in March this year, but it sounds like they have been at this forever. And even within that short period they have evolved. The debut EP positioned classic pop songwriting against M83-style electronic dreampop, New Order rhythms and early IDM, while ‘Invisible’ was a pastoral, ambient exploration of wintery landscapes with nods to Talk Talk and Boards Of Canada. Released last month, the title track from ‘Your Life / Your Lie’ leans on those nascent IDM vibes further, but delves deeper into introspection, exploring regret and self-reflection. That’s a lot of ground covered in three releases. TR^NKS’ music sits somewhere in between the rave, the after-party and stadium rock.
Tell Us More…
While the foundation of the TR^NKS sound came from Davis’ solo experiments in a “floating studio” inside a barge in north-west London – armed with a laptop, old Juno 60 and drum machines – the huge sound we hear now is completed by long-time friends and collaborators Dave Startin (of Nottingham post-punk/synth-rock duo I Am Lono) and Chris Moore (also from Spotlight Kid). TR^NKS might be made up of very established players, but arguably this is the best music they have ever released.
‘Your Life / Your Lie’ is out via Bandcamp
