Altered View is a project born in lockdown and deep in some secluded UK woodland. There, Johnny Area and Johnny Midnight came together, fomented ideas, dreamt up sounds and fused their concepts and influences into a fresh new selection of tracks.
Opener ‘Red Eyes’ is a low-slung and sleazy cut with filthy bass guitars and post-punk drum energy. Dreamy pads, acid details and psychedelic colours all swirl around the deadpan vocals and make for something crisp and punchy that fans of everything from Depeche Mode to Joy Division will enjoy. ‘I See A System’ is another bristling mix of sounds from beyond the dance floor – dubby broken rhythms and melancholic pads, eerie synths and snappy hits that echo and ricochet about the mix next to dark vocal fragments. ‘I Want To Dream’ is a wall of scuzzy guitars run through with another dubby rhythm that brings dark disco moodiness to strobe-lit chug.
The brilliant ‘Free From The Lights’ is a final indie techno workout with muttered vocals coated in layers of dirt, grimy bass guitars rumbling below and psyched-out cosmic electronics filling in the airwaves. Last, a remix comes from Jamie Blanco, a Sydney-based Londoner, Tusk Wax and Cynic associate and half of Ess O Ess. He flips ‘I Want To Dream’ into a rousing dance floor cut with strident drums and hopeful guitar licks, bringing a subtle sense of joy.
‘Taken From the Outer Realm’ is a fantastic EP from this fledgling but fascinating new duo.
Release Date: 20-11-2023
Tracklist:
01 Red Eyes
02 I See A System
03 I Want To Dream
04 Free From The Lights
05 I Want To Dream (Jamie Blanco Remix)