Battles’ new album Gloss Drop wormed its way onto the internet earlier this week, and anyone wowed by the Warp artist’s debut LP Mirrored promptly dropped doing whatever they were doing (cooking up a grilled cheese, folding towels, looking for employment) to get their hands on it. Talking about Battles excessively probably shouldn’t happen on this blog…my friend back in the States summed it up pretty well when he wrote to me that listening to Drop at the gym allowed him to “run an interdimensional mile in 7/8ths time while shouting in a language that sounds like English but isn’t”…save for final track “Sundome.” Since original lead vocalist Tyondai Braxton stepped away from the group, Battles enlisted several guest singers for Drop, and on “Sundome” they summon the witchdoctor-madness of Boredoms’ damaged genius Yamantaka Eye to handle mic duties.
Given the histories of these two artists, it’s a little surprising to find “Sundome” starting off relatively relaxed, Battles sorta stretching out a bit while Eye lets out a few rushed sentences in the background, though nothing like what he’s done in the past. “Sundome” initially seems like the trip to the smoothie bar after the rest of the album’s universe-bending jog. Then…bam, classic Battles clock you right in the stomach while you start looking at the walls. Everything tightens up and turns into a locked-in march, save for Eye who gets thrown into a galactic rift and re-emerges possessed by some cosmic demon. The band filters his voice through some vocal effects like Braxton used to be, those ravings now splitting apart from one another like Eye’s from several different dimensions are trying to shout over the others. It’s a hell of an ending, and also a strong effort by itself if you just want to hear Eye fall through a black hole.
Right now no video or rip seems to be online, but honestly you should just get Gloss Drop when given the opportunity. If anything crops up though, I’ll put it in.
Update: Let’s see how long the video below stays up.
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAKE4GlL18w”]