Album Review: Forest Swords - Compassion

This is Matthew Barnes' first album on Ninja Tunes, and if anyone thought that might mean a softening of his more caustic edges then they are mistaken.

Primarily instrumental electronic music, the vocals that do appear are generally spliced and twisted into choirs, like machines speaking in tongues. These are digital compositions but he still retains a primitive, organic percussive base to his sound. Less dub-influenced than on Engravings (2013), Compassion still possesses the disorientating, otherworldly psychedelic patina that he coats his music in. It's an often impressive and immersive exercise in ancient futurism that works both as an imagined soundtrack and a transportive headphone experience.