Uitgebracht
February 2019
- Chilly industrial on Regis's label.
- Christine Seefried's hypnotic intonation of the name "Laura Palmer," the dead high school student central to Twin Peaks, on Raging Tender's title track gives you a hint about the EP's mood. The first solo release for Seefried's long-running collaboration with the producer Jan Grebenstein, the EP finds a middle ground between the cold, harsh minimalism of their previous productions and an atmosphere that's Lynchian in its sinister cool. It's a quality also prevalent on "Breathe," a slinky piece anchored to a hushed break and handclaps, and "Body Electric," a cryptic incantation that threatens to evaporate into vapor. Both are smoky and alluring, so they would be at home at The Roadhouse, Twin Peaks' edge-of-town nightclub.
"Raging Tender" and "Arab Icon" would also go down well at The Roadhouse. If the chilly title track is the EP's most rhythmically forceful piece—looped toms needled at select moments by ear-tweaking feedback—then "Arab Icon" is its most extreme. Over four tense minutes, Seefried's voice, like a sleepwalker, navigates sheets of atonal chords and industrialized grind that are prime Downwards. For a project that limits itself to just a single voice, synthesizer and drum machine, Raging Tender has a rich sound, one that can shift from confrontational to alluring and back again with ease.
TracklistA1 Raging Tender
A2 Breathe
B1 Arab Icon
B2 Body Electric