The fourth album from Axel Willner contains more of the atmospheric minimal techno with vocal micro samples heard on previous releases. “Cupid’s Head” is the first album since the breakthrough “From Here We Go Sublime” where Willner worked alone and later tracks have an increasing focus away from techno and into something darker.
The opening ‘They Won’t See Me’ and the following ‘Black Sea’ (which he compares to his work as Black Fog) could both feature on a Kompakt mix for a restrained dancefloor. They share similar structures in building up before dropping back for the bass to rise to the fore. The latter has a bubbling 303-style loop where the slowly opening resonant filter suggests a minor key change.
From the fourth track ‘Cupid’s Head’ it starts to become increasingly unsettled and experimental except for respite offered on ‘A Guided Tour’, with synth pads and understated bass and a restrained open high-hat part that maintains some energy.
‘No. No…’ opens with a female voice cut into shortening snippets as the loop nears its end. A jarring kick drum part starts, the high-end click like static as the oomph becomes lost in a looping bass, accompanied by droning synths. At a third of the way in a trap-like high-hat enters, flanged out of time with increasing trills that make everything seem out of time before all percussion eases for lower-pitched ‘no’ samples at the end. If there’s a narrative in this song one expects it’s unpleasant.
The final track ‘Seconds Of Affection’ uses an out of phase loop, flanged over something more like white noise. The kick returns to pounding quarter notes with a subtle squeaking delay that chirps like a small annoyed bird. The organs that enter about two-thirds into the track provide a sense the album is wrapping up but it feels like the end of a horror movie where most of the cast have disappeared.
