Violet

Shield Patterns (Claire Brent all and Richard Knox) follow up their acclaimed (5/5 in the Skinny) 2014 full-length debut Contour Lines (GZH 055 CD/LP) with the four-song EP Violet. The Manchester-based creators of dark electronic pop deliver a lovingly crafted progression from Contour Lines. They further their debut's experimentation with samples made from clicking bones, field recordings, heavy drones, and a starker approach to production. On first listen the sound is more minimalistic than that debut album but multiple layers gradually reveal themselves over time. Brent all's vocals were singled out for particular praise in early reviews and she has refined her vision further here, with her lyrical concerns focusing on the intimacy of bodies (drip-feeding and mouths, for example) and her voice arranged into swirling loops like those that introduce and underpin closer Monument. This is electronic music that juxtaposes warmth and cold, journeying from industrial to natural, from claustrophobic to expansive.