Enginist is the artist formerly known as Dan Knight, and Dan Knight is the artist formerly known as someone you might not have heard of. I want world peace, but wanting you to buy Chosen Tracks ’21-’25 is doing a very good job of jostling for the #1 position in my Desires Top Ten.
First track ‘The Gardener’ begins like helicopters landing in a barren Interstellar landscape. Distant planets twinkle like distress signals, a kick drum beats as softly as a heartbeat, and arpeggios shimmer like rain. “I want to walk to the woods, talk to the animals,” a disembodied film star voice says – a macho display of adventure undermined by fear of the unknown. ‘Outsiders’ features Whitney Houston handclap and ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ keyboard, and the track becomes a happier version of Bicep’s ubiquitous ‘Glue’, with a dash of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen’.
The poignant piano on ‘Remember Kids’ immediately reminded me of Knight’s utterly sublime ‘The Space In Between’ from his EP The Fractures. Imagine Fred Again at his most beautifully subdued and mix in some 50s BBC presenter – that’s ‘Remember Kids’. If Brian Eno were to provide a soundtrack for the levitation of eight billion confused souls to the heavenly gates, it would sound half as celestial as ‘Here and Far Away’. Enya and Clannad will also be taking notes.
The picked guitar on ‘This Way, Through The Trees’ is soon barged down the picking order by computerised bass that’s deeper than a blue whale’s belly. Are those panpipes we hear? If ever you need an aural accompaniment to a trip down the Amazon, then hunt no further. ‘Eagle Scout’ seethes and growls like a cold wave duo in a Berlin nightclub. It’s something a morbid Moby might have produced, but with spiky guitars.
The EP ends with the almost-nine-minute epic ‘Helix’ – a perfect name for an electro-banger. For the first five minutes, it’s like time travelling back to a warehouse on the outskirts of the M25 in 1989. The police haven’t arrived yet. Everyone has chemically-enhanced smiles and no one can see a thing. The remainder of the track is the equivalent of waking up in a field in Hampshire, surrounded by your friends, uncaught by the fuzz. Lambs frolic in the distance. Flat Red Stripe still tastes good. We’re not old yet.
Worcester is responsible for nurturing at least two well-known heavily textured, euphoric electronic artists: Fuck Buttons and Blanck Mass. In a just world, Enginist would complete the podium. Buy the EP and fill your ears.
Chosen Tracks ’21-’25’ is out now via Bandcamp
By: Neil Laurenson