the slowest lift: s/t

The debut release by The Slowest Lift (Sophie Cooper and Julian Bradley) presents a new chapter in the long-running tradition of radical English music duos. Originally formed via a commission from the Supernormal Festival, Cooper (an accomplished solo performer and collaborator) and Bradley (from frequent VHF delinquents Vibracathedral Orchestra) play a kind of gentle post-industrial psychedelia, with Cooper’s lovely vocals floating over a collage of live and electronic performances. The songs are a blend of straightforward performance and eccentric bricolage, with rude electronic interjections sitting comfortably alongside delicate guitar and keyboard melodies. Zoviet France-like low-fi atmospherics compete with Cooper’s voice for air on tracks like “Crystal Fracture” and “Hi From The Skyline Swim,” while the duo’s surprising cover of Duran Duran’s “The Chauffeur” deep on side two sneaks in perfectly, a mini-pop music drama reimagined as pure hallucination.