"Salt Carousel", the first offering from British dance-producer Evian Christ's new EP Waterfall doesn't calmly announce its presence; it screams it with a metallic bang. A soft bed of wafting ambient vocals blunts the impact, but that initial strike is still deadly. Clobbering drums come in around the thirty second and threaten to obliterate everything in sight. As insular as the first few seconds of ambient wandering are, Christ makes it clear he's opening up, absorbing TNGHT's laser-focused "trap-rave" sound into his own. The sped-up vocals are a tip of the cap to rave forerunners, but on "Salt Carousel" their dizzying speed recalls the Chipmunks force-fed helium and attempting to sing the main theme from Psycho. After a few run-throughs, it’s clear why Kanye West tapped Christ to work on the decidedly non-commercial Yeezus. Hooks were far from a constant on that record and when they came they came with a serrated edge. On "Salt Carousel" one of the only familiar faces is a twitchy/glitch-ridden synth, nauseously spinning in an unending loop, coupled with those obstinate drums. Even the final few seconds refuse to lie down or fade away. Instead, they’re sparking and squirming like downed power lines. While more palpable than ever, Evian Christ's sound is spinning closer to the un-embraceable.
Evian Christ's new EP Waterfall is out sometime early next year through Tri-Angle.
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