From the planet’s core pours Earth & Stone, a sapling label rooting itself in the deep ambience of Foamplate & Lungman’s ‘Crashing’ EP. As expected from the Plant Power label founder, ‘Crashing’ exhales patient, disturbed basslines that rumble through broken melodies and aleatoric, dubbed-out soundscapes. With collaborative efforts tracing back to Brighton’s Drift Collective, Foamplate and Lungman’s creative connection is a natural fit, laying a sturdy foundation for more kif-heavy journeys through blue-warped dungeons.
Allusions to the label’s future dungeon-keepers are spread across the poster of Earth & Stone’s debut label night at The Crofters Rights, which took place Thursday July 18th in Bristol. Joining Foamplate and Lungman were Lamont, Chalky and Rips. With talent pouring in from Swamp 81, System and Plant Power, Earth & Stone’s audio aesthetic has a well-rounded balance of influences gazing into its future.
Title track, ‘Crashing’, strikes with a subtle hook which unfolds, twists and fades into squelching basslines and introverted drums. More rugged, ‘Just About’ is ‘Crashing’s’ twin brother, Grant Mitchell. Fists heavier than breeze blocks and frowning through a silently raging mind, ‘Just About’ grunts on the teetering point of a mosh pit. Driving the dim-headlight white lines between dubstep and techno, the road of ‘Graff’ is a dark, progressive shoe-gazer. ‘Manner’ suits up similarly to the title track, but irons its shirts, upholding a steadier gait.
Patient in every aspect, the ’Crashing’ EP twists sorrowful thought patterns into maddening climaxes. Its greatest achievement is the subtlety by which these emotions are communicated to the dancefloor. The further the title track’s nervous melody walks, the more scatty, overbearing and incessant its thought patterns become. Without rocketing upwards full-force with eight rising synths, an army of trap snares and a looping catchy phrase like “Get Down In The-”, ‘Crashing’ continually builds and releases in an imperceptibly satisfying way.
