Review: “Dead Channel Sky” sees Daveed Diggs and clipping. enter electronic utopia
Key Track: “Ask What Happened”
Score: ★★★★
Even if you weren’t annoying in middle school, the first thing that probably comes to mind when you hear the name Daveed Diggs is “Hamilton.” But before Diggs made his debut as Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette on Broadway, he was creating dark and mechanical soundscapes as the lead vocalist of the experimental hip hop outfit “clipping.” along with fellow musicians William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes.
clipping.’s music couldn’t be further from that of “Hamilton”: it’s abrasive, raw and oftentimes politically radical. The group has always had an electronic dance element to their sound, but on their newest project “Dead Channel Sky,” EDM pulses take center stage across nearly every track. In imagining a radical future both musically and sociopolitically, the trio serves up a rave that champions the great equalizer: dance.
Diggs sets the tone on the ominous opener, pulling listeners into the album’s glitchy cyberpunk world. He lays out the central themes of media overconsumption, technology’s dehumanizing effects and a call to rebellion. It’s a landscape reminiscent of a William Gibson novel — a clear inspiration for “Dead Channel Sky.”
“Dominator” begins a three-track run that stands as some of the album’s best material. Driven by the same brand of techno music that powered Charli XCX’s “365” remix with Shygirl, “Dominator” continues to illustrate the dystopian world of “Dead Channel Sky” with lyrics like “Ads up in the sky so you can see them when you're on your back / You might almost see the day too with the sun ray through satellites that have replaced the clouds.”
Diggs is someone who knows how to write provocative and memorable lyrics. There are few better examples than his work on “Change the Channel.” With one-liners like “asbestos is best for breakfast,” Diggs illustrates the atmosphere of the album’s dystopia with aplomb over aggressive breakbeats and basslines.
“Run It” is similarly vivid, featuring a bleak image of a drug-fueled fever dream in blazing Detroit techno. “Run It” exemplifies the ’90s EDM influences throughout this project, illustrating how this album uses the electronica of the past to capture the sounds of the future.
The next song, “Go,” exemplifies the main problem with this project: there are too many tracks that contribute very little to the project as a whole. “Go” functions best as an outro to “Run It” and is too slight to be memorable as anything but that.
The album gets back on track with “Code” and “Dodger.” The latter track tells the story of an authoritarian world overly reliant on technology and a hacker that strives to rebel. The track examines the complexity and necessity of rebellion while heavy, uptempo breakbeats contribute to the sinister atmosphere of totalitarian suppression and control.
“Keep Pushing” is probably the least EDM (and fittingly the least cyberpunk) of the project’s highlights, harkening back to Diggs’s West Coast background in its production. On this track, Diggs weaves a narrative that tackles capitalism, addiction, violence, systemic inequality and societal amnesia.There’s a string of hope and resilience here that is peppered throughout the album.
“Mirrorshades Pt. 2” continues this theme of resilience and rebellion. From “The Matrix” to “Nemesis,” the mirrorshades are one of the most common motifs of the cyberpunk canon. By shielding the eyes – and therefore the intentions – of revolutionaries, they are a symbol of uprising. “Mirrorshades Pt. 2” is the album’s party track and makes revolution against cyberpunk totalitarian regimes sound downright sexy.
After an interlude and a great Aesop Rock feature that explores the allure of virtual worlds, “Dead Channel Sky” reaches its conclusion with “Ask What Happened.”
“Ask What Happened” intricately includes historical references to the Vietnam War, Iran-Contra affair, Central Park 5 and Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Mentions of “railroad tracks,” “punch cards,” and “phreaking phones” evoke historical moments where technology was re-appropriated or “hacked” to challenge societal norms. It's the most thematically dense of the project’s tracks, and plays over an ominous and sparse piece from Hutson and Snipes, forcing its listener to pay attention to Diggs’s words.
“Dead Channel Sky” is clipping.’s bold foray into an electronic realm — equal parts harsh sonic landscape and vibrant EDM infusion. The project occasionally stumbles with forgettable interludes, but its strongest tracks blend dystopian imagery, incisive social commentary and immersive storytelling into a cohesive vision of future rebellion. Ultimately, “Dead Channel Sky” cements clipping. as architects of a uniquely unsettling and prescient sound, further proving they remain essential voices in modern experimental music.
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