By Los Angeles electronic duo 23 Bees are earnestly developing an identity. Chris Cubbison and John Warlick have been collaborating musically for over 15 years, and on their latest project they’re only just beginning to explore how a wide arrangement of textures and microgenres can neatly fuse together; while you can hear a twitchy, eclectic colorfulness to their work akin to modern DJs like Two Shell or Paul Woolford, there is a raw, ‘90s lean to the duo’s music that recalls everything from Aphex Twin to Orbital to Meat Beat Manifesto. That layer of industrial fuzz is tactile and physical, and it results in each 23 Bees song feeling primal and wild.
In June they released the blisteringly kaleidoscopic techno cut “Bridge of Dread” and the steely, seven-minute house rave “So It Seems.” Those two songs felt like an optimal record flip, moving from the upbeat and intense to something still apace but more groove-oriented and relaxed. That experimenting continues with their two latest tracks, the trancy, ambient hummer “Smokepath” and sinister, industrial highlight “Vex,” a darkly cinematic number that features guitar from Josh Menashe of Frankie and the Witch Fingers. “Our process for these recent songs can vary, but usually one of us begins by putting down two-four layers before bringing it to the other person and fleshing it out over a long period of time,” Cubbison says. “This project has been fun in that whenever we get stuck, we create a new process that usually reveals where to go with a song.”
“Smokepath” is accompanied by hypnotic, technicolor video from visual artist Michael Christy (who also worked on the visuals for “Bridge of Dread”). You can see the video and hear both tracks below:
Go ahead and follow 23 Bees on Instagram today, and be sure to grab both tracks over on Bandcamp!
Comments