Swan Meat: Blood Supernova EP Review
Blood Supernova is the most recent EP by Germany-based producer and DJ Swan Meat. Drawing from hardstyle, breakcore, and 8-bit video game soundtrack, with a distinctively symphonic element, her music is delightfully maximalist, complex, euphoric, and above all masterfully engineered. Her discography has been largely singles, with some of her best work in tracks like the melodic and addictive “Rabies’ Kiss (Animals 2.0)” and the droning and trance-y “t00 late.”
The EP kicks off with the fast-paced and extremely danceable track “Perfect Cherry Blossom.” A pounding bassline and clean drum breaks punctuate the soaring, almost operatic synth and string sections. This song also features some of her most successful incorporation of vocals on the record. We hear her voice woven into beats and melodies, edited and chopped to add to the rich and textured sounds in her build-ups and melodic interludes. The song concludes with a cutesy almost rap-like section with some not-so-serious lyrics about “not wanting to be a part of fleshworld”. This is my favorite track on the record, and I think it beautifully showcases her technical prowess and attention to detail.
Things continue in a fast and churning direction with the title track, “Blood Supernova.” I would consider this to be some of the least catchy of her work on this EP. It’s pretty bare bones, but does feature some pleasant drums and an overall spooky and cute vibe. “Cygnet Zombey Dance” gives us more addictive melodies, coming in at the second most danceable track on this record. With a well-mixed rise and dynamic and flowing drop, and a melodramatic and engaging comeback, this song is well executed and fun.
The EP closes with “Keep it Simple Stupid,” featuring a vocal performance by Danny Orlowski (aka Shitney Queers/Guido) of Deli Girls fame. Like me, you may know Deli Girls best for their older work: brutal and cathartic, throbbing noise-industrial beats with screamed, moaned, sobbed, or hysterically laughed lyrics about righteous anger over trauma and healing (can not recommend enough!). In more recent years, the duo has moved towards a more rave-y sound, keeping the aggression but pairing it (quite successfully!) with more danceable club beats. Swan Meat provides a drilling beat, some interesting mixing and sounds, and Danny gives a high-energy vocal performance in their more recently adopted thinned out and reverb soaked style. In my opinion there could be more chemistry between the two, as the song feels kind of split into two components with less meshing than I’d like, but I was excited about this collaboration nonetheless. If they did it again, you know I’d be listening!
Thus concludes my thoughts on this short EP. Swan Meat has shown herself to be a highly talented producer, with close attention to detail, embellishment, and intricacy that I think elevates her tracks from just fun and dancey to complex and well-worthy of repeated listening.
For those who want more of this style of music, I would heartily recommend the work of Lauren Bousfield, who I think absolutely dominates this genre, combining incredible skill on the piano with intricate and perfectly engineered drums, as well as many interesting and textured sounds via modular synth.