‘I don’t even know what I’m meant to do with the days that I’ve got left on this earth.’
What seems like only yesterday that I reviewed the debut album from Graphic Nature, I step back in the ring with them for round two, that’s not saying that I’ve recovered from round one.
The line up remains the same, frontman Harvey Freeman buzzes madly like a wind up toy, the mechanism inside him has been triggered, there is only one way out for all his pent up anger and emotions. The visualiser that accompanies the album online is very Alice In Wonderland, with the tiles, the water, the room swaying and shifting, and then the lone figure right in the centre, stoic and dispassionate. The introduction is a warning, it is apprehensive, and is an indication of the annihilation to come.
Our society is neck deep in unrest; I am writing this whilst riots are happening, they are near where I live at the moment, the neglect that ordinary people have suffered due to government ineptitude and serious hardships for those already struggling, it was only a matter of time before the frustrations escalated and tensions exploded. After suffering a debilitating and frightening assault himself, Harvey has had a lot on his plate. They begin tearing flesh from bone immediately, with the triple threat of ‘Locked In’, ‘Blinded’ and ‘Human’ an absolutely ear splitting discharge, that pops every vessel in your body. A roller coaster of emotions can only enable instability and fear, all are ideal elements that encourage creatives to do their best work. There are deadly breakdowns a-plenty, it’s where the rage resides, waiting to unleash the nerve – shredding, choleric noises that impart wisdom and clarity under the tumult.
‘I got along fine before I ran into you’ from ‘Something I’m Not’ are words that we can all probably relate to. They remind us of a time when we really wish we didn’t meet certain people.
The whole record reminds me of The Prodigy, with adventures in metallic scrapings, distortion, static interference, beeps and high -pitched tones, all bringing their unique qualities to the finished sound and visual gymnastics of Graphic Nature.
With the mysteries of ‘Session 24’ I’d go ‘To the Grave’ offering the ultimate sacrifice, all ‘For You’, but for now, we wise up and we stand and deal.
‘I’m grateful for every day that I wake up, that doesn’t mean that I don’t fucking dread the outcome’. This is who I am when no one is watching.
Azra Pathan
Graphic Nature – Who Are You When No-one Is Watching – out now.