Clark

Whilst Chris Clark impatiently waited for ‘Sus Dog’'s release, he wanted to do something novel to promote the record. He started making video vignettes for social media, containing new, alternate versions of tracks from the album. Thus avoiding having to post selfies whilst still feeling like a legitimate human being. These short clips turned into a bit of an obsessive mission, and ‘Cave Dog’ was born.

“I felt like I was coming to the end game of a very specific palette of synth / Sus Dog music. I was searching for intense, rich detail that sometimes only reveals itself on the thirtieth listen, but also flow, simplicity and memorable melodies that just can’t be any other way otherwise they’re wrong. Making it really cohere was fun but fackin ‘ell, I’m done. Happy and time to call it quits. I sussed it. The dog needs to leave the house now, go and play with new friends.” 

A companion piece to ‘Sus Dog’ and an album of two halves - one beat driven and stripped - and one more spacious, dreamy and intimate; ‘Cave Dog’ is split neatly down the middle by the piano piece ‘Unladder’. It pivots from the upright and beat driven (represented by first single ‘Vardo’), to the ethereal and expansive, exploring deeper into the intimacy and emotional immediacy touched upon in ‘Springtime Epigram’ and ‘Broken Kite Footage’ from past classic albums ‘Body Riddle’ and ‘Iradelphic’. 

Praise for ‘Sus Dog’:

“Irresistible” The Guardian ★★★★

“Sounds pretty great to us” AV Club 

“One of the most gifted artists in modern electronic music, Sus Dog is his first album to centre on his own voice. It's a bold move, but one he pulls off magnificently” Future Music 9/10

“Sus Dog is warm and immediately gratifying, offering the musician’s fragile falsetto as a graceful counterpoint to his intricate and sometimes breakneck production. An ornate but fleet-footed synth-pop album brimming with some of the loveliest music he’s ever made” Pitchfork

“Mustering a full sonic barrage: a relentless electronic bass line, blasts of drums and distortion, orchestral flurries. Clark’s voice turns out to be like Yorke’s, a high, pensive tenor shading into falsetto; he sometimes multitracks it into Beach Boys-like harmonies, while his lyrics offer bits of sage advice” New York Times

“Clark’s vocals most resemble Brian Wilson’s when they’re layered on top of each other with the influence of Thom Yorke, most prevalent in the quill-like flourishes of Clark’s falsetto. Chases euphoric sweetness with piledriving percussion amidst synths that pulse and flare out an interstellar air raid warning. As revelatory as the vocals are, don’t be mistaken: Clark’s music was complete before he ever contemplated making a singing record. It just feels reborn now” FADER 

“Though Clark is still capable of sending his songs whizzing off in strange, exciting directions, this time it sounds more like a human being is doing it” Evening Standard ★★★★

‘Town Crank’ and ‘Clutch Pearlers’ both added to BBC 6 Music A-list

“Sus Dog is the sound of Clark finding his voice in more ways than one” Mojo ★★★★

“You're no longer asking whether his first foray into songwriting has been a success, but are instead wondering why he's kept this talent hidden for so long” Electronic Sound 

“The balancing of melancholia and euphoria, the intimate and the epic, is a feature” Uncut 

“Skittery, psychedelic synthpop” Stereogum

“Warped electronic art pop” Brooklyn Vegan 

It’s a record that rewards concentrated, single session listening, in particular the woozy final slab of ambient vignettes which Chris wrote as one piece. 

A surprise winter companion piece to Sus Dog and an album of two halves - one beat driven and stripped, and one more spacious, dreamy and intimate.

Whilst Chris impatiently waited for Sus Dog's release, he wanted to do something novel to promote the record. He started making new, related music for some video vignettes. Thus avoiding having to post selfies whilst still feeling like a legitimate human being. These short clips turned into a bit of an obsessive mission, and Cave Dog was born.