A Closer Listen
Ben Chatwin has taken a new approach in 2025, releasing a double-A side single followed by an EP, each boasting visuals from Morgan Beringer. These audio-visual works are meant to be experienced in tandem, as each enhances the other.
The cover of The Beginning, seen left, is a screen shot of the video. One can see the attention to detail, the vibrant color and contrast. When put in motion, the visuals glow. Some may recall earlier collaborations such as “Transistor” and “Collapsing in Feedback”; entry by entry, the live show grows more intense.
“The Beginning” and “The End” are twin offerings, reflecting creation and collapse on a vast scale. Like the book of Genesis, the video for “The Beginning” begins in darkness; and then there is light. The electronics swirl, stutter and surge. Patterns and pictures are momentarily visible in the rapid bursts of expanding stars. The video has a flowing, jellyfish-like quality, especially apparent in the ambient midsection. From chaos grows form: a corona, an iris. Pause at 2:44 and one will see an incredible palette. As advertised, “The End” is a mirror image, a drone of “dissolution” in which even the sonic atoms vibrate slower, their energy winding down. A choir appears at the end, singing a final requiem.
“Caldara” is the first video from KLASIS, representing the second track. The elements take center stage: clouds, rivers, lava, fire, sun. Following the template of The Beginning, KLASIS investigates “tension and aftermath,” with four tracks to play with instead of two. Chatwin and Beringer each start slowly, wispy clouds accompanied by calm chords. But the skies soon darken, and the sonic field fills. Visual whirlpools and waves are backed by cello and drums, an electronic pulse, sonic certainty meeting visual abstraction; until the peaceful, string-filled ending, which zeroes in on a single shot of a sunrise.
On the EP, “Caldera” rises from the title track, a dark pairing of strings and electronics, connoting tumult and war. In the middle of the piece, a second, more organic-sounding type of percussion enters, not quite on beat, leading to a series of breakdowns and even larger builds. If these two tracks are KLASIS’ “The Beginning,” then “Through the Prism” and “Klast” are the EP’s rendition of “The End.” The first is calmer, verging on ambience, showcasing piano and strings against a backdrop of frazzled drone. “Klast” starts like the theme to a horror film, suspense lurking in every cranny, with a nod to 80s cinema; yet as the track develops, it grows warmer, even sweet.
These works, although brief, shine a spotlight on sequencing. These complementary opposites peak and recede, explode and settle, boil and cool. There’s a lot more to explore with this template, and we suspect that an album may be on the way, perhaps one in which the dissolution is drawn out, chords fading to notes, spaces expanding, barely audible sounds and finally silence. Chatwin has found his perfect pairing in Berenger, the two inspiring each other to greater heights and depths, wringing emotion from sight and sound. (Richard Allen)
Thu May 29 00:01:13 GMT 2025