Matthew Dear

If Matthew Dear’s Black City is an opus of bacchanalian futurism, then second single “You Put A Smell On Me” is its presumptive climax—an unblinking industrial march to the center of the brain’s most neglected corners. Its drums are militant, its pace is unswerving, and the squarewave synths that start falling like mortar shells are searing and wide-eyed. Then there’s the marbled voice of Dear himself, pent-up and sexually charged, beckoning you for a ride in his “big black car.” It’s the sound of staring down the part of yourself that you are most afraid of.

If that seems too daunting, there’s always the dub version. When mirrored through the eyes of others—specifically Wolf + Lamb prodigy Nicolas Jaar and Ed Banger’s resident boogie revivalist, Breakbot—”You Put A Smell On Me” starts to feel less lobotomizing. Jaar’s version is a sullen, scratchy, headphone-ready beat trip—atmospheric vibraphone samples here, stilted kicks and snares there, all of it amorphously affecting together. And Breakbot has no problem hamming it all up into the sort of blithe electro-funk every prom night deserves.

NOTE: The digital and physical art for this release are different and can be seen above. The 12” will include art labels in a black sleeve. The ghostly store will have photos available on release date.