Perverts In White Shirts — Meaning What Exactly?

Perverts In White Shirts is a duo hailing from Zürich, Switzerland and consists of Dave Phillips and Nathalie Dreier. I’ve been aware of David Phillips for many years, initially from his metal and noisecore days with  Messiah and Fear Of God respectively, and then from his experimental works since the middle 80s; a  prolific and radical artist. Nathalie Dreier on the other hand contributed vocals on two of David Phillip's previous albums  2012’s Abgrund and 2016’s Selective Memory / Perception, as well as visual art in four other releases. On top of that, Misanthropic Agenda constantly delivers amazing releases, so I was positively adjusted, even before listening. 

Meaning What Exactly? is the second album of the project, with its title being a homage to Coil. The album is a vastly sensual, mid to slow-paced work, partially electronic, partially acoustic- as well as merging these two disciplines. With the whole thing often heavy with dark atmospherics. Meaning What Exactly? is an amalgam of field recordings, sound manipulation, electronics, acoustics and vocals; this work is strongly based on vocals utilizing various expressions, concealed under a heavy veil of sonic layers. Furthermore, the duo collaborated with Bryan Lewis Saunders's poetry for the second piece.  

This album resides in the post-industrial spectrum and that aesthetic is most evident. The bass and percussion could easily have escaped from recent works of -let’s say- Einstürzende Neubauten with each of its four pieces crafted with materials leaning to a more minimal approach. Meaning What Exactly? is not loud per se, but it is evolving loudly, exceptionally lyrical and at the same time, it is heavily saturated with a bass-oriented production, giving a real mass to its outcome. The sound production is tight and strong. 

Within there’s a bouquet of hypnotic storytelling where words are floating in a tamed sea of abstraction,  overloaded with rhythm that sounds marvellously organic. The cinematic touches, the mesmerizing voice and all the above combined are delivered in a top-notch experimental work, which transgresses from industrial to minimal, to electro, to experimental. Buy from here and get lost in it!