'God of Surprises' / Teether x Kuya Neil
Expect the unexpected on X Amount Records drop God of Surprises - a covert collaboration between Teether and local producer KUYA NEIL.
Dizzying light trails and washed out microtonal fuzz are just symptoms of the creative vortex that is burgeoning over at X-Amount Records. Things are set to light speed around these parts. It’s been a year or so since I last spoke with Teether following his album with Stoneset Don’t Come Back Here - a recalcitrant and ungovernable release that demanded something deeper. Since then Teether has been relentlessly sowing the seeds of what is becoming one of the most unpredictable and boundless local acts guided by undulating ego’s, limitations of circumstance and social disturbia.
For latest release God of Surprises he’s linked up with KUYA NEIL, an equally untethered producer who’s raver flavours make for an equally gritty, but overall totally different sonic interpretation of the suburban scapes of Melbourne. A collaboration that Teether feels has been inevitable.
“I feel like last year our circles and styles started to merge and so it made sense to link and see what came out of it. Our approaches to creating are very similar in that we just go with what feels right and tweak shit later. Making the EP was really effortless, it came together in a couple of weeks”
Lead single and video “Move!” lives in the deep-end, both audibly and metaphorically. Neil’s work below 100Hz (or something) makes this one ride heavy. The mise-en-bass leaving Teether room to set a vocal landscape that feels like a mad late night rush home through the backstreets for a hail mary goodnight spliff. The video itself is right out of the X-Amount sock draw - hidden dirty DIY secrets revealed and totally separated from nuance.
If you stayed late on the vid you’ve just been treated to a little outro teaser of “I Told U!”
The direction on this one blindsided me for the better, a distant and floating trap lullaby that emanates a twice removed state of self-reflection which is only enhanced by the heavy auto-tune on the vocals. Progression born out of necessity is the motivation here, don’t look back because the next one is about to go off like zesty expiration date milk.
Neil’s electronic finesse powers “Church”, a seventh-heaven string laden slapper that even further demonstrates the bodacious experimentation throughout this EP. Teether goes lyrical egotistical from the outset, his tit-for-tat flow decidedly smoother in comparison to his usually off-kilter vocal saunters.
“What they look like
Drift by lazy on a crook bike
Blew my haze and said some good night words
Before I count my blessings
Almost shook my curse”
The turned out auto-tune outro earns its place a little differently in this one, and in my own unnecessary and indulgent opinion I think more deservedly here as it’s stark disposition against the grimey verse comes off as less cynical and more complimentary to this tongue in cheek bravado, but who fucking cares really cos this shit bangs.
Teether reiterates this sentiment,
“I’ve been trying to take shit less seriously. Making music as the world burns is kind of a silly thing in itself. I’ve been thinking of it as more of an activity that we enjoy rather than the end goal and the sole purpose. I also think it’s important to incorporate the whole self into the music and not just the side that can be intellectualised.”
“Lamp (ft. Joyboy2k)” loops back around to the eerie and sinister sound palette created in “Move!” This motif really has become Teether’s bread and butter - while sitting back on this last tune I couldn’t help but notice how instinctive and natural the lyricism feels throughout the whole release.
This is definitely a switch up from the growing X-Amount back-catalog, the warm sentimentality that revels in the journey of Teether’s creative freedom shows that nothing is sacred or taken for granted in the studio. A breath of fresh air and I’m sure yet another string to the bow that is budding to be unleashed as part of what is already an arresting live show. Hopefully we get to see this one in the flesh sometime soon.
Listen to God of Surprises on Bandcamp and Spotify
& Stay up to date with X Amount Records on Bandcamp, Xamount.net, Soundcloud, Instagram and Facebook
Images by Nini (@ninnkole)
Article by Jack Ball (@leroy_jeans)
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