There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that one of the most interesting and innovative musicians working today is Dave Brenner, who operates as Gridfailure. I have been listening to a lot of his music (which is a combination of him being incredibly prolific and me being way behind on my reviewing), and this 7-track 38-minute-long EP was released in September last year which finds him again as a solo artist. There are times when he collaborates with others under the Gridfailure name, others when he works with other named musicians, and yet others when he is improvising, but here we find him back in the format with which I first came across his work, in a studio all by himself.
In many ways, the Covid pandemic is the perfect backdrop to his world, where he mixes together acoustic and electric guitars, bass, several types each of synth/keys and digital drum/percussion setups, acoustic percussion, effects and field recordings, to create something which is dystopian and bleak. This is a world which is not only the aftermath, but also the living through it, and there is very little room for colour as this is black and white, chilling and bleak, an industrial desert with little in the way of life or human contact. He conjures up soundscapes which are oppressing, yet somehow inviting and compelling, stretching the very definition of music, moving beyond the normal chordal and time constraints that so many musicians bind themselves by. It is progressive in its very truest sense, mechanical and deep, with far more power to shift mindsets than the pap often found on the radio. Neither Brenner nor Gridfailure may be household names, but his music at the extreme edge is something which will always have a place for me. Dissonant, yet with purpose, this release again finds David at his most intriguing best. It may not be a place we want to live in, but a visit is always refreshing and we are better for it.
Rating: 9/10
