Doldrums

Canadian producer Airick Woodhead, known by stage name Doldrums, isn’t afraid of apparent contradiction. Producing an uncompromising debut record containing both big dance beats and unsettling noise, often concurrently, is testament to this. Even the plodding phonetics of his chosen moniker seems to sit awkwardly alongside the frenetic psychedelic soundscapes on Lesser Evil. ‘It’s about escape,’ Woodhead explains ‘it’s a pretty positive driving force, though Doldrums is kind of about escaping isolation and the feeling that nothing is happening.’

Uncertainty juxtaposed with an invigorating thrill permeates the record, exemplified by the aptly-named ‘Anomaly’, where reverberating noise and glitchy production fail to mask the power of the anthemic beat into which Woodhead’s melancholic vocals inject a disturbingly hypnotic sense of purpose and drive. At times, Lesser Evil is euphoric, and at other points close to breaking point, but ultimately composes a gripping visceral experience from start to end.

Woodhead explains how this conflicting aesthetic works within the context of Doldrums. ‘Pop music is a way out. It’s a way to get excitement, to share something with other people. I think that the attraction that I have towards stagnation and all those negative things is a result of my unwillingness to compromise or live by other people’s standards.’ Marrying pop sensibilities with a tendency to explore isolation almost naturally then involves the incorporation of noise, flying in the face of other people’s standards. ‘It’s like a fuck you to consumer popular culture. It’s so hypocritical to make pop-noise. Noise is all about not wanting to be liked.  I just love the idea of these two terms battling it out, pop and noise. Both sides will hate me.’

The tension explored throughout is perhaps Woodhead’s mixed feelings towards the sense of isolation explored, when contrasted with the notion of personal freedom. He describes there being a ‘positive and negative side to both complete isolation and personal freedom, but also a positive and negative side to living by other people’s standards.’ However, Airick quickly corrects himself, ‘Actually, what I mean by other people’s standards is always a negative, fuck that!’ A different metaphor is drawn, more aptly describing the underlying competing themes throughout the record; ‘Lesser Evil is a dialogue between a person who is completely selfish and another person who’s completely altruistic. It’s not that either one is right, it’s just a conversation.’

Having spent the majority of his teen years travelling and on tour, first with previous project Spiral Beach, Woodhead possesses a disparate range of influences. Utilising heavy sampling because he enjoys ‘not only consuming culture but twisting it into something new’, these find their way into his work. Previous projects have found inspiration as far as 70s Bollywood psychedelia and Brazilian mash-ups via Costa Rica, yet Lesser Evil’s samples have come from a fairly narrow pool. ‘I wanted to have some more consistency on my album. Instead of stealing Missy Elliot beats for a track, I wanted to make my own.’

Nonetheless, the influence of Montreal is evident in the abundant layers of noise that cocoon the beats, Woodhead takes the aggressive spirit of noise he’s encountered whilst living there, applying it to great effect. ‘We put on a lot of poetry readings, shows, art shows. A lot of the shows are really insane violent noise shows and I’m really hoping to retain that spirit on a bigger scale, because I find bar shows really fucking boring.’ Further, the laptop on which Lesser Evil was recorded was borrowed from good friend Grimes, the Quebec connections almost seem endless. ‘[Montreal] collects people like me who are just looking for something and somewhere to pursue their own goals. I don’t think it’s like other scenes, because the label really is trying to foster our individuality and help us each do what we do as best we can.’

How to describe Doldrums accurately and concisely is difficult, with many opting to label Lesser Evil as experimental. ‘It’s only my kind of anthropological interest in noise music, especially with regards to electronic music that has made people call this project experimental. I try to shy away from the term experimental because it’s ambiguous what the experiment is. I don’t like how that term just means weirdo or something. It kind of has a negative connotation for me.’ If experimental isn’t apt, perhaps enticingly energising or irresistibly compelling will have to do.  Neither of those serves as an adequate description of the music, but they’re both certainly true. With the release of Lesser Evil, Airick Woodhead has firmly marked himself out as an exciting talent, and although his originality and ingenuity may polarise listeners, it will ultimately reward those who choose to persist.