SWRM

Alec K. Redfearn and Matt McLaren continue their decades-long musical journey with their new duo project SWRM. This project represents both a departure from, and a deepening of, their previous work with Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores. While song-structured, there is an improvisational foundation to the sound. The music is darkly futuristic. It draws on the raw early electronic rumblings of Silver Apples and Tubeway Army, but stays rooted in dark folk blues, Balkan music, psych-rock, free jazz/free improvisation, Krautrock and the post-hardcore explorations of the SST records roster of the 80’s. A large part of the impact of SWRM is the contrast between the electronic sounds and the traditional drum kit. In this sense the sound moves both forward and backward in time. Distorted analog synthesizers and acoustic drums rumble in dynamic waves under AKR's alternately whispered and belted vocals. The duo has worked together since the late 80’s and there is a natural synergy that comes from countless projects, gigs, jams and rehearsals. The music breathes, growls and swells like a living beast. The lyrics continue in the apocalyptic vein of much of The Eyesores material. Themes of love and loss, paranoia and dissolution, aging and obsolescence and attempts to make sense of a world we no longer recognize as our own. Redfearn’s weird wordplay and imagery over narrative continue to evolve. Unlike Redfearn’s recent work with modular synthesizers in projects like D.U.M.E. and Reversible Light there is no reliance on clocks, sequencers or arpeggiators in SWRM. Everything is hands-on and tempos have a natural fluidity which suits the emotional landscape of the long-form song structures.