Burial - Untrue

Hyperdub

November 5th, 2007.

Burial's sophomore release cast sullen shadows over the world of electronic music. Those in its shadows had no choice but to bear the brunt of its unforgiving yet brooding beauty. Mood and mastery meet to produce a work of exceptional quality.

Untrue is home to the most barren of soundscapes - the mind sets its sights on urban environments and concrete jungles. The future of modern living - stone cold souls set to calculated rhythms. Emotions find it hard to develop and mature in these parts. They're over-burdened with the weight of the world - suppressed and sat upon. The roots lack the right nourishment to sprout some sort of sentience. Surface level living, void of all contact with reality, catches you in its grueling grip. It shakes your shoulders, to no response. The heart beats, the body moves, but the mind is gone. Passers by ignore the alarms. Stranded from shore, miles out, the sun is eclipsed by a pseudo sense of hope. The lack of daylight gets under the skin. The mind wanders into unwelcome territory - dealings are dealt and tricks are played. Ever felt alone in a crowd?

Burial's Untrue stacks layers of glacial elements - frigid, fragile atmospheres whisper from deep inside dilapidated buildings. Cries for help? Maybe. Enticing the listener to take steps closer, the ether calls you. Slowed down samples act as spirits confined to beats. Lured by a desperation to thrive they search for kindred connection. Finding a source of its despair, confiding with the soul on its receiving end. Untrue aches for human interaction.

Weaved together with a touch of intricacy, yet heavily algorithmic and constructed, Burial broke new ground for the electronic world. Heading into new territory - while also being influenced by, at the time, contemporary movements - the amalgamation of UK garage and splashes of ambient essence provided a fresh perspective for those seeking a whole new world - one of a downbeat, ethereal nature.

A seminal release from one of the 21st Centuries finest. Burial's signature sound captivates a space not quite understood.