Since I first heard Dälek’s album Filthy Tongue Of Gods And Griots I have been hooked on his leftfield sense of hip-hop, the fearless mix of words wrapped in experimental sounds and beats that warp and collide and always hold your attention. You can always count on dramatic and unfamiliar landscapes unfolding on a Dälek release.
On the new release HAYWARDxDÄLEK, Dälek has worked with Charles Hayward bringing New Jersey and South East London together in a collision of industrial beats and unsettling soundscapes. Imagine the sound of a steel works, a huge furnace warping the air while enormous weights drop onto white hot metal. The factory becomes an enormous drum machine pounding out beats while gears grind and heavy machinery thrums. In this setting the drummer (and singer and composer) Charles Hayward brings organic beats to an electronic world and his responsiveness makes everything feel alive.
The opening track ‘Increments’ sets out a powerful manifesto for the album, brooding and unsettling drones rise and fall, clinging to the track like a foreboding mist before the hi-hat-led beat leaps into the mix, driving everything hard without resolution like a fiendish treadmill.
‘Between the Word and the Drum’ has Dälek lead with a rap that bounces over Hayward who acts as heartbeat and pulse with occasional bursts of arrythmia. The mantra of “between the word and drum lies balance” is a perfect lyrically summation of how the two performers create tension and harmony. ‘Breathe Slow’ has Dalek forcing words through a hyperventilating backing that the drums seem intent on calming by their steady beat. ‘Salvage’ has Hayward pounding out a war dance for subterranean tribe living deep in a cavern while unholy creatures fly about creating crackle and static and ancient horns create a shamanic hum that swells and hypnotises.
‘Antiphony’ means the call and response of musicians and/or singers and here Dälek feeds waves of electronic phrases which Hayward responds to like Gene Krupa doing the Devil’s bidding. ‘Asymmetric’ is a standout track, an incessant drone fluctuates while Hayward locks in a the beat, and a synth line drifts in reminiscent of Tubeway Army. Weaving in and out of everything is the power and clarity of Dälek’s voice which is more than able to pierce any amount of cascading noise.
HAYWARDxDÄLEK is not always an easy listen but it rewards as it delivers myriad sounds: unresolved chords, howling electronic winds, and beats that sometimes keep the ship from crashing on the rocks and at other times are the rocks. We should seek to challenge our brains and get passed the dissonant. I always think of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring which went from causing a riot on its first performance in 1913 to being lauded as a masterpiece a year later*. This is a pair eyes staring at you from the dark, the queasy feeling you are not alone in the house, but these are feelings we love to embrace from the rollercoaster to the fairground ghost train ride. The musical language that Hayward and Dälek have achieved is fluid, responsive, iconoclastic and in the vein of no-riot-no-reward, this album makes your mind work for its dopamine, and I love it for that.
Dälek socials: Facebook | Instagram | Website
Charles Hayward: Facebook
* The Radiolab episode ‘Musical Language’ wonderful explains Stravinsky’s zero-to-hero story. From about 35 mins in.
Review by Paul F Cook
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