Over the years I’ve become a big fan of the spoken word – work done by William S. Burroughs via Material and Kurt Cobain, Henry Rollins, Bill Drummond, through to The Streets, Datblygu and Sleaford Mods.
For the past few years, spoken word artist Equinox has been contacting and collaborating with several musical influences through which to put express his spoken word poetry to. The poetry of Equinox takes no prisoners with subject matter ranging from male suicide to prostitution. Saying that, it also has elements of undying love and devotion that shine through on these releases.
For this latest track, titled ‘Goodbye’, Equinox has collaborated with electronic producer Dementio13 (renowned for his ambient, drum n bass and krautrock influenced work) to produce a gorgeous minimalist piece of work that showcases both artists’ work and illustrates what brilliant ambient art can be achieved with collaboration. The track is 3.28, but it seems to be over way before you know it. It is way too short! A gentle electronic piano pulses throughout the track as Equinox’s gentle delivery mixes with the build up of layers upon layers of sounds and noise from his collaborator.
The drum and rhythmic sounds that Dementio13 produces throb with an almost tribal feel. The music is haunting and melancholic and combined with the words by Equinox, there is a feeling of dread and unease with this track. Equinox’s Mancunian lilt is very reminiscent of Ian Curtis’ and I can’t help think of the spoken word segment of the breakdown in Joy Division’s classic ‘No Love Lost’ as a (lazy) comparison. ‘Goodbye’ creeps under your skin like a nasty burrowing grub.
Based in Lancashire and having recently successfully collaborated with Radio Europa and Pulco with their track ‘Scream’ which featured on the recent ‘#MoreInCommon: HOPE not hate’ charity album released in November 2016, Equinox is currently finishing work on his debut album entitled ‘It’s Hard To Be Happy When Your Head Is Full Of Sin’ which is released early 2017 and Equinox promises a huge name will appear on the album. Hopefully with some live dates to be added too, a very interesting year is ahead for Equinox.
Review by Ioan Humphreys
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