KPT — Claw

If one genre has truly ridden the wave of egalitarian musicmaking, it’s the deep, dark world of atmospheric, textured soundscapes. While of course there can be no complaints over the current surge of ambient music, it does present a bit of a challenge when it comes to sorting the truly innovative from the more pedestrian. No wonder then that when KPT and his wholly unique form of deconstructed techno-cum-noise music appeared a decade ago, people sat up and listened. An artist who consistently succeeds in pushing the boundaries of inventiveness and creativity in this saturated world, KPT is experimental in the extreme, pushing his form of avant-garde meets the dancefloor degree, intellectualising the beat-heavy experience. This is a current that has flowed through his work ever since he appeared on the scene, but everyone needs a change and for his latest release, KPT is taking his work in a different direction, subverting expectations. Claw adopts a pseudo-minimalist approach to industrial noise that (in the main) keeps its volume low but its intensity high as the American musician continues to take apart what we know and expect and put those pieces back in an order that is both exciting and incredibly creative. 

From the outset, the Minneapolis-based KPT (pronounced Kept) avoided falling into the traps inherent within this oversaturated market and as a rather elusive character just let his soundscapes do the talking. His first album was 2015’s KPT Alive by Machines which took ‘EDM’ and turned it upside down kicking the insides out of it in the process. He created a near-indefinable noise aesthetic that stripped the essence of techno bringing it down to its darkest bare bones. And despite its highly experimental nature, it chimed with the critics with single ‘Descent’ featuring Russian vocalist Jekka receiving Grammy recognition.

Grabbing the baton KPT hasn’t stopped, producing an impressive catalogue of solo material while working with among many other artists Justice, The Orb, and Blanck Mass. Since 2014, he’s also been one half of industrial rock duo Deathdance - a fascinating collaboration between Augustus Watkins of Bijou Noir, an artist who leans heavily into songcraft and in turn, brings his own brand of alt-pop to blend with KPTs experimentation all of which gives the duo’s industrial electronic music a unique dynamic, leading them to be hailed as the ‘spiritual offspring of Nine Inch Nails’. The pair have also set up boutique record label GIVE/TAKE where unsurprisingly KPT has found a home.

 All of which brings us back to the here and now and Claw. This album is truly singular in its intention producing atmospheric noise that drives deep with its (initially) subtle intensity. Although figured as three tracks, KPT uses guitar, muted rhythms, industrial noise and static to create what is in essence one composition that begins timidly and builds towards such a searing contortion that by the point of final track ‘Tear’ the listener is fully enveloped in a hailstorm of deconstructed techno and extreme sound - framed in a distorted and ferocious dancefloor aesthetic. But it is mesmerizing, absorbing and most definitely to be listened to in one sitting. Claw is a mind melt, a transcendental journey through noise that is strangely meditative. Take a breath. Go again.