Outback - Sugarblood (2023)

Outback is a Canadian electronic musician and DJ based out of Montreal His latest project, Sugarblood, leans into the ambient and textural elements from his previous releases. It explores the artist's experiences living with chronic illness and being medically reliant on technology, and embraces the vulnerability & uncertainty this topic represents.

Originally composed as a single piece of music, Sugarblood combines feverishly scripted skits (created using AI simulations of Simpsons character voices) and old voicemails with sweeping pads, genre-defying dance beats, and rubbery, tactile synth textures. Sugarblood is also accompanied by acoustic instrumentation, performed by Your Friend Brennan & Ericslake, who contribute contrasting organic elements to otherwise entirely electronic music.

Standout tracks from the project include its double single, "Pillow Case/The Pillow" - "Pillow Case" being an atmospheric ambient piece littered with birdsong and granular texture, followed by a beat-driven re-imagining of these elements on "The Pillow" - the skittering, break-filled "Tongue Division" and "The Clench", and epic penultimate track "Under The Coffee Table" where featured artist EricsLake introduces fuzzy electric guitar textures to the project's established sound palette.

Prepare to waste 30 minutes of your time, out everywhere on unseelie.