ARTIST: AZERTYKLAVIERWERKE & ALEX DEFORCE
TITLE: SOORT VAN NERD / TONDER
LABEL: LES EDITIONS DEFORCE
CAT NO: LED003
FORMAT: 7”
GENRE: POETRY, ELECTRONICA, SPOKEN WORD
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

On ‘Soort Van Nerd’, melancholic, earnest emotion is still allowed. Melancholic but above all considered: Azertyklavierwerke is remarkably sparing with both word and sound, which makes the cut into his own skin (or someone else's) all the deeper.

Over a nostalgic but restrained bed of drum machine and a naïve piano line, he punctures where it hurts in true Eternal-Sunshine-of-the-Spotless-Mind fashion: "Ik wou dat je smelten kon, als een ijsblokje voor de zon" (I wish you could melt, like an ice cube in the sun). A song laced with tristesse that leans against the best work of weltschmerz masters like Spinvis and Sufjan Stevens — 'Soort van nerd' is a kind of genius underground pop song.

On Tonder, a match is found — between poet Alex Deforce and Azertyklavierwerke, that is. Over a runaway beat, they attempt to tame the search for love, or whatever vaguely resembles it. "Swiped right, match made" Deforce dictates with rhythmic detachment, as if delivering a mechanical recitation: love has never sounded colder or more clinical. What follows would not have been out of place on the soundtrack of Fritz Lang's Metropolis — best described as an industrial drum machine gasping for breath while trying to suppress an epileptic seizure.

Contemporary and contrarian, cryptic yet unvarnished: 'Tonder' (a wink to Tinder) is an intriguing song full of contradictions, leaving you orphaned and addicted in equal measure. Bonus: locked grooves! The 7" also features two locked grooves — endlessly repeating loops that anchor the record in hypnotic suspension. A gesture for the attentive listener and the DJ unafraid to mix into infinity. Needless to say this is a vinyl-only bonus feature.

LED003 is the second vinyl release on Les Editions Deforce, the Brussels-based imprint of poet/artist Alex Deforce. Available now on limited 7" vinyl — distributed worldwide for the first time.