picture : Daniel Nathan
Immersion
Soup Kitchen, Manchester
Friday twenty second November 2024
Wherein the aptly named Immersion envelop and immerse us of their multi-layered post-punk electronica.
There’s some pedigree up there on the stage within the shivering gloom of Manchester’s Soup Kitchen tonight. Colin Newman from Wire and his accomplice in life and music, Malka Spigel, previously from Minimal Compact, are melting right into a musical and private complete with their sonic adventures that pull you into their world the place creativity is all.
There are parts of each their earlier bands at play right here – the bass pushed melodic punk funk minimalism of Malka’s earlier band Minimal Compact is embedded within the keyboards while Wire’s excellent post-punk angular artwork pop with all the surplus stripped away stays a part of Colin’s aesthetic. It’s the very best of each worlds that sees them each behind keyboards and a flickering iPad creating washes and pulses of sound over pumping drum loops recorded by an actual life drummer Matt Schulz who’s staying at dwelling within the USA as a result of harsh economics which might be the fact of contemporary touring.
The songs weave and soften with the digital sounds constructing and layering however at all times with a flickering power, making a head nodding from the viewers. But there are songs right here full with vocal traces from the pair of them constructing a pop construction with hooks and lyrical phrases punctuating the items.
Once in a while Colin Newman switches from keys to his guitar, concentrating on clipped rhythmic components that nudge the sonic adventures again in the direction of the world of Wire and their knack of constructing an clever come out of stripped down perfection. Immersion break down all of the artistic cliches to create a stark trendy music that sees Colin and Malka nonetheless pushing the frontline of what music will be many years into their artistic careers.
They end with ‘Different Methods’ and its hypnotic groove and ideal refrain flicker and shimmer soundtracking the ever current movies within the background. It’s a charming and haunting piece that feels like fixed movement and displays the understated but good musical narrative Immersion assemble.
In a parallel universe ‘Different Methods’ could be an quaint hit report however in our universe it’s a slice of chic future pop for the trustworthy to savour and an ideal calling card for anybody fascinated by Immersion’s musical adventures.
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