Earlier this week the Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former was released on YouTube and announced on various social networks. Whilst I don’t follow Former a whole lot and had mixed feelings about Noisia’s last studio album Outer Edges, I’m always interested in anything new they have to show, and I first caught a tease of the video after seeing a tweet from Noisia last Friday that announced when the video would be available. Fast-forward back to today, after watching the Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former a number of times, and I’ve come away impressed by the way in which the slow and intense sound captured in the track has been complimented by such interesting imagery. The song Pleasure Model was originally released as part of Former’s Edge Mecha EP last year – again, I don’t follow Former’s music as much as I do Noisia which is why there wasn’t much coverage of the EP on these pages – but collaborations such as this and the Noisia/Upbeats release Dead Limit are always a good way to bring my attention to an artist or group that wasn’t really on my radar that much in the past.
Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former – slow and colourful
People in a similar position to me might be drawn by Noisia’s involvement and expect some breakneck drums and big drops, but instead as you watch the Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former you’re treated to a slow and soothing ambience that builds up with a steady rhythm and distorted vocals, taking a moment to wind down a bit later on before building up a final time as the song draws to a close. As ever, it helps to have headphones that shut out any noise from the room so that you can get the most out of the buzzy bass and surreal synth noises. What it lacks in any escalation of tempo it makes up for with the many layers of noise and the soundscape that’s created with those layers. Meanwhile the video shows colourful abstract landscapes, powerful use of light and dark, as well as a bunch of oddball individuals. Deliberate visual glitches flick around for brief moments and the use of strobing lights and blurry movement all adds to the overall experience.
Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former – wrapped up
As a song it’s certainly no Could This Be or Anomaly in terms of absurdly fast drum patterns, and I saw a few comments from people who were disappointed by this, but it’s easy to forget that these are musicians – Noisia especially – who are just as capable of delivering slower musical experiences that have plenty of depth. I thought that Outer Edges was a bit of a mixed bag but even I started to enjoy the low-key rhythms of The Entangled** after enough listens. Watching the Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former… you’re listening to something even slower than The Entangled but that fierce distortion and unnerving vocal contribution almost make up for any lack of urgency felt throughout the video. It’s almost – almost – the same kind of raw and pure noise that you might expect from “The Day Is My Enemy”-era Prodigy, and if you like that kind of sound, the Pleasure Model video by Noisia and Former is worth four and a bit minutes of your time. Meanwhile, if you like a more offbeat video accompanying your beats, turn the display size up and the lights down if you want to get wrapped up in the experience.
You can find Edge Mecha on Former’s SoundCloud here or alternatively you can listen to it on Spotify here
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