A bewitching, nigh nightmarish soundscape pervades all over Dark Optics latest record ‘Dreams Insepia’. The Derby based experimental electronic artists’ fourth release focuses on the ideas of sleep and the waking subconscious thoughts we have. It’s a complete journey of REM through to the feeling of waking life right after a slumber that feels like you’ve opened a door to another portal. Combining elements of trip-hop with light percussive work and hip-hop beats alongside an overarching bass heavy electronic and entirely distorted and heavily processed vocals makes Dreams Insepia almost creepy but more so intriguing.
From the immediate dark and heavy start of Sleepwalker that transitions into something a bit more simple and easy to listen to, there’s a whole lot happening in every piece of the record. On The Great Rainbow Serpent, the more processed and innately electronic and futuristic sounds start to carve their way out. Kansas City features a beautiful vocal performance, creating a more ballad esque tune that sounds slightly out of place in transition. Floating Bridge is more haywire, a constant flurry of light drums and an assortment of background subtle sounds to serve as the perfect reprieve.
It’s perhaps on the record’s final two tracks that Dark Optics really strike gold with me. The slow, building, and Western thematic sound of This Desert Life, Pt. 2 is simply breathtaking. And then, the half titular final piece Insepia takes all that you’ve heard before and closes the record with something that doesn’t really feel over the top but perfectly resonant with the emotion and feeling of the rest of the record.
Undoubtedly, Dreams Insepia isn’t a record for everyone. It’s exceptionally strange and almost unsettling in parts, but it’s also bewitchingly beautiful in other sections. A remarkably well conceived dark electronic assortment of tracks.