London-based trip-hop duo Belum captivate with their latest single “Dogwood,” balancing haunting intrigue and buzzing passion with its use of guitar distortion, electronic rhythmic pulses, and Amalia Small’s riveting vocals. One of many highlights via Belum’s recent album Fleece, “Dogwood” is a thorough atmospheric success from the duo, which comprises Eshel and Oppenheimer. Moody inspirations like Cocteau Twins and Portishead meld within originally inviting songwriting and a dark, wintry soundscape — as collaborator Amalia Small adds an enveloping vocal performance.
Buzzing distortion and a click-clacking, trip-hop rhythmic intensity swells as sporadic, menacing texture appear underneath; the track wastes no time in balancing climactic vigor and atmospheric engrossment. Small’s ghostly vocal presence enters thereafter, as guitars and synths interplay cohesively past the one-minute turn. The “human flesh,” vocal sequence enthralls, melding an organ-y elongation with foreboding distortion. Overlapping vocal layers around the three-minute mark furthers the spellbinding pull, cementing a thorough success from Belum, who also caught our ears last year with fellow album track “Twins.”
Stream Fleece in full, below:
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
