This week’s track of the week is one which is difficult to label in terms of genre. (W)hole, the fourth track on The Watermark High’s latest EP release, Bright Black, is an multi textured dreamlike soundscape which sounds like something Flying Lotus would drop. Is avant garde a genre yet? Because this is a great relief from the doef-doef currently invading commercial culture.
Paul van der Walt, the human behind The Watermark High, first popped up on the scene when MK was still a channel on the DSTV bouquet, with a music video for The Disconnect, taken from the In Flux EP released during October 2012. Almost two years later and Jo’burg remains largely unsure of how exactly to react to The Watermark High and ‘intelligent dance music’ in general. Fortunately for Paul, music is a labour of love – something he has to do.
He is committed to releasing an EP every six months and Bright Black represents some of his darkest material to date. The title of the EP, supported by the album art and track titles, suggests a brooding experimentation with the ethereal chilled aesthetic The Watermark High is known for.
The growth and slight deviation in his sound is portrayed most obviously in our featured track, (W)hole. What begins as something we’ve come to expect from The Watermark High – a relaxed, multi-layered, shoegazey collage of cosmic sounds – eventually breaks down into a very industrial Death Grips/Yeezusesque assault to the ears.
Catch The Watermark High performing at the next Park Acoustics where you might hear our featured track live.
—
The Watermark High | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud
