Burial
Truant/Rough Sleeper

Praising an artist obsessively or, on the other hand, giving them an unreserved critique can be the easiest and shortest way to judge their work. It is very difficult (and especially more laborious and demanding) to maintain one's balance based on what is listened to and to judge without restrictions or prejudices.

This brief methodological introduction works, unfortunately, only at the theoretical level, because when judging "Truant/Rough Sleeper" it's hard to resist the temptation to fall on one of the two poles: on one side, the aesthetic perfection and attention to detail of one of the most gifted artists of these years, on the other, the constant upheaval of the formula that brought him to the forefront.

The times of "Untrue" are distant: the journey that has given new life to the sound of this artist continues to become more intricate and does not lack illustrious collaborations. To give an example: the length of the tracks. In his collaboration with Massive Attack, the threshold of ten minutes was exceeded for the first time (a dilation already noticeable in various EPs with Four Tet). But this is not the only novelty. Among the most significant is a drastic change of register in the composition phase and in terms of structure of the compositions. The tracks of the first two records, strong in their cohesion in a mostly radio-friendly duration, are light years away from the compositions presented in this EP. As can also be seen in the previous "Kindred EP", the focus is on extended tracks full of fractures, gaps, changes, alterations of the landscape outlined so far.

With this said, it is worthwhile to delve into the details of this latest work. As can be inferred from the title, the EP contains two tracks (for a total listening time of twenty-five minutes) that can be considered, without too much forcing, as a long suite in two macro-sections: "Truant" and "Rough Sleeper", precisely. The beginning is given by a minor chord progression that rests on a cracking sound that, at this point of the track, is not yet fully identifiable (a sound between a worn vinyl and a headphone disturbance). This soundscape will evolve throughout the entire EP to become, at certain moments, the main protagonist of what is enacted. If Burial's sound has always been associated with a peripheral London (made of continuous drizzling and distant echoes at dawn's edge), it can be well said that in this work, he sought to evoke this imaginary in its entirety. This crackle in the background will transform into light rain until it becomes the storm that will break out at the end of "Rough Sleeper".

"Truant", the first half of the EP, is itself divisible into three sections. This structure enhances the sensation of fracture within the track: after a first section, which gently introduces the instruments that will gradually be reworked, some moments of absolute silence are introduced. From there, an implacable bass will be generated, accompanying the entire second section. The section-emptiness-section mechanism is repeated throughout "Truant". The same will be done in the following "Rough Sleeper", where the sections are more difficult to identify, chasing and recalling each other. In this second track, the almost solemn development of what has been done until that moment prevails. Highly reverberated keyboards, with abundant use of chorus, accompany rhythmic bases, voices, background noises.

Precisely that background noise, which is the constant of this work, will swell until it becomes a storm in the concluding measures; not reaching, however, the final catharsis that both compositions seem to herald. Darkwave-style synths and broken rhythms guide us to the abrupt conclusion, closing without possibility of appeal the series of holes and fractures that have dotted the entire EP.

This new work is also useful for understanding, and mapping, the continuous evolution of this artist. It is not difficult to trace the series of influences that have been decisive in these two compositions. First and foremost, there is a renewed ability to use rhythmic sections: at times the percussion becomes tribal, and the use of cymbals is much more abundant than in the past. It is no secret that much of the credit goes to the influence that Four Tet exerts on Burial but, in the final analysis, much can also be found in the latest works of Pantha du Prince. The series of references is excessive (consider the synths in "Truant" which, at times, refer to the Fuck Buttons of "Tarot Sport"). Despite this, reigning supreme over all the experimentation undertaken, is Burial's stylistic signature which, despite attempts at imitation made over these years, remains a colossus marking the boundaries of a genre.