LA’s Health have been polishing their gleaming magpie hoard for 20 years now, bringing an ever-increasing sense of melody and dynamism to the decaying neon noir soundscapes that are their stock in trade.
Conflict DLC references contemporary game culture both in its name and subject matter which I can’t help but see as a metaphor for the creep of subscription culture, itself a mirror to the ever-present crawl of techno-facism.
I’ve always been drawn to Health’s ability to craft songs that glitter like the reflections of skyscrapers on oil slicked streets. This latest album builds upon this sound and manages to somehow capture an enduring humanity and beautiful vulnerability within the maelstrom of clanking beats, raging guitars and squalling synths. While the music descends into entropy, swirling and almost seeming to lose itself in places, the vocal soars, rising from the ruins–a call to survive.
Flowing from track-to-track Conflict DLC feels almost like a whole, rather than just a collection of songs. ‘Shred Envy’ builds upon the live energy of Rat Wars’ (2023) favourite DSM-V, drenching itself in glorious slabs of distorted guitar. At the other end of the scale ‘Antidote’ caresses the soul like a hypnotic lullaby promising peace and forgiveness if we can only endure.
In short, you could argue that this is the perfect album for times in which we find ourselves, both a warning and a call to endure, to persist and find the human beauty within the digital cesspool.
Best paired with: An acid rain proof umbrella, sunglasses at night and a Voight-Kampf test.
Review by Jake (our wine expert)
‘Conflict DLC’ is out now on Loma Vista Recordings.
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