26 April 2024
David Moss, Hanno Leichtmann, Hannes Strobl
“Just because Denseland take inspiration from the past, doesn’t mean they’re stuck in it. On their first album since 2017, their second for arbitrary, the Berlin-based trio instead ventures slowly but steadily into unknown territory. Hanno Leichtmann and Hannes Strobl’s dub- infused, bass-heavy rhythmic minimalism in combination with lyricist David Moss’s sonorous yet deadpan delivery opens up a space that feels both claustrophobic and infinitely wide.
Like previous Denseland albums, »Code & Melody« picks up on the sparse side of dub-enamoured post-punk, no wave, post-rock, adventurous electronic and improvised acoustic music and blends this with a vocal performance marked by a Lou Reedian cool, a confrontationalism à la Lydia Lunch and, occasionally, an experimentalism akin to Scott Walker.”