Detritus — The Very Idea
Detritus(aka Wales's based David Dando-Moore) has been active since the early 2000’s, releasing around six full length albums thus. His sound doesn’t really fit into any one solitary electronica bracket, as he takes in a selection of traits from several sub-genres - on The Very Idea, you can hear elements of downbeat IDM, drum ‘n’ bass, dub step, more sleek industrial flavours, and beyond. But the thing that makes the whole thing even more rewarding is his ability to effortlessly mix in other non electronic based genres to create a very rewarding & varied ride, where you often don’t know where a track will go next.
The album consists of eleven tracks in all, and most of these fall around the three to five minute mark, meaning Detritus creates a vibe/ mood, yet never over stretchers it. I know this is a reviewing cliché, but I really did find it hard to chose favourite moments here, as the whole thing is wonderful conceived & executed…with really no duff or underwhelming moments in place. But just to give you a idea of whats on offer here I’ll run down a few of my present favourites. The opening track “Blind” melds together a deep ‘n’ mood mix of bassy synth ‘n’ crisp beats, malevolent almost eastern tinged ‘n’ snaking melody, dramatic swooping synth string sweeps, and a felt piano break down. “Egress” open up with a stripped down & felt piano melody, with-in time slow hazed beats moves in and out , along with a dense chug of thick meaty metal guitar- but through it all the felt piano melody keeps firmly heard & in place. “More Than Half” moves from the feel of warm nostalgic found-ness, to more darker & doomy midnight jazz moods, with it’s beat-less mix of paino, layered synth, and subtle noise details. “Bane” is all about staking shadowlike sleek-ness, with it’s roaming ‘n’ moody synth layers, it’s bombastic ‘n’ dark beats, grainy noise detail & buried dialogue elements, and a chugging guitar layer, that dips in & out of the track. With this track you can almost picture in your minds eye a acrobatic & muscular figure making his way silently across the city night-time landscape- jumping from building to building, and ducking in & out of the shadows so to not be seen.
I’ll have to admit in recent years I’d become more than a little jaded by the whole moody ‘n’ filmatic electronica thing, as too much of it lacked depth, conviction, and replayability. But I have to admit I was literally bowled over by The Very Idea. Detritus has not only the ability to construct memorable & repeatedly tracks, but he also is able to put real emotion & drama into his work too. It’s always great to be pleasantly surprised & wholly impressed by an album that you didn’t expect much from, and that's exactly what The Very Idea did.