‘Nautilus’, the first track on Anna Meredith‘s Black Prince Fury EP, is a looping of adrenaline, a blaring of jabbing, galloping brass, a cacophony of ascents and descents. It rises on the back of trumpets with something to announce. It intends to dive. It plunges downwards, dragged by ominous bass lines and wobbles.
It reminds me of a rickety early virtual reality deep sea ride I once went on at the now defunct piccadilly SegaWorld. The roller-coaster seating had a tendency to throw you around quite violently. But it did have 3D giant squids. Good times.
Speaking of diving and monsters, there’s also a slight resemblance, both topically and sonically, to Jamiroquai’s 1998 Godzilla track, ‘Deeper Underground’. The bass half way through? Similar no? I always liked that song.
And that jabbing adrenaline gives ‘Nautilus’ faint echoes of Justice’s ‘Stress’.
Always a delight to have watery depths creatively imagined. And audio tension, appreciated too.
To end, here’s the sharp-toothed and tentacled video for ‘Nautilus’, an older ‘Nautilus’ and the spatially expansive Zombie Zombie mix which led me to ‘Nautilus’ in the first place (thanks to Tavy Gibson/Golden Pavilion for that):
The Silt Log 