SPTW - EUTHYMIA

 Released: August 21 

EUTHYMIA is the first release in a couple of years from SPTW (Some Pretend To Whisper), the synergistic effort of sound collagists Perkin Warbek and Stakha. It’s a rather interesting approach to sound collage, one that I wasn’t quite expecting when I hit play. The influences and the vibes are decidedly hip-hop, but in such a way that feels like it ever so slightly disjointed. The beats are quite relaxed, the sampling is odd in that there are those discernible “licks” peppered throughout like the intermittent horn or saxophone that pops in and out on “Jealopy.” But there’s a lot of strange environmental sounds thrown in as well used primarily as unsettled loops in the background. It makes for a rather novel blend that stays in experimental territory while keeping a solid hip-hop oriented vibe to keep it grounded. 

The vocal on this album also represent some interesting choices, ranging from wispy and wavy sung vocals provided by by Stakha on a number of the tracks to intricate rapping over light beats on “Claques perdues” provided by Asteroide Maravich. This one came as kind of gentle surprise as it’s the only one with such extensive vocal work. While my French is too poor to understand what is being said, the vibe of this track is just so immaculate with gentle bits of organ and keyboard floating along a soft beat with just the right amount of slack. Certainly a stand out track on the album. 

The dreamlike vocals provided by Stahka work their way into tracks throughout the album but one that stood out to me was the off-kilter delivery of “SCOTT.” The whole track is quite slack, playing heavily with the sense of rhtyhm in a way that make it shuffle in a stable manner, semi-lurching along. Stakha’s sultry delivery here falls beautifully into this shuffled rhythm, making their imprint nicely. This theme of shuffling vocals is played with further in the following track track “for your winter” as that shuffled feeling transforms into a full on warp as the vocal sound like their being quickly wound through a twisting pipe. Just another wonderful example of the strange textures that coalesce into something rather leftfield but still tied to a solid foundation.