Dis Fig - PURGE (2019)

"The album resembles a horror soundtrack in its ominous use of light and shade (...) lurching electronics thick with dread (...) cyclical, hymnal chant(s), at once hypnotic and sinister (... and) harsh percussive bursts, their suddenness and unpredictable rhythm mimicking the timing of jump scares.

Although Chen plays with well established horror tropes, her use of bizarre juxtapositions cultivates a more unexpected kind of terror. Opener "Drum Fife Bugle" begins with distant, rumbling bass and static-like electronics: a familiarly creepy atmosphere until the introduction of a melody played on flute. A recording of a body moving through water is used in "Watering", but perhaps more sinister is the clip used on the title track. The listener expects the prowling buzz of "Purge" to pounce, but instead it resolves strangely into a recording of a domestic scene, with a radio playing in the distance. The switch from horror to this ordinary setting conjures ideas of unexpected violence, or the threat of home invasion, more unsettling than genre thrills.

Chen's chameleon-like vocal performance is one of the album's major strengths, switching from tonal growls and hisses to assured jazz singing. Her voice is the emotional and expressive core of the album, assuming the roles of an omnipresent threat and its vulnerable victim with equal conviction. The aptly titled "Unleash" chronicles an unfurling wild state, as Chen's increasingly frantic, guttural screams multiply and intensify. On the title track, her screams are quietened to a barely legible, reverb- laden whisper. "Why" sees the voice that has been wrapped in distortion emerge clear, strong and measured. The title of PURGE is ultimately self-fulfilling: a violent, cathartic release fueled by emotional decadence."