A personal, foreboding rock spell unfolds on “The Knife,” the enveloping new single from London-based artist Blue Loop, the moniker of Emma Hall. The release comes via Blue Loop’s upcoming debut album CYCLES, out later this year. Additional performers on the track comprise Karin Grönkvist (Junodef) on guitar, Alex Malseed (About Bunny) on bass, and Hannah Stacey (Palomino Club) on drums.
Hall’s eclectic artistry succeeds here with an industrial rock atmospheric captivation, led by ghostly vocals alongside swampy electric guitar tones and hypnotic rhythmic undercurrents. Hall’s work in the more electronic realms, especially as a producer and live performer, has also drawn acclaim in recent years; her impeccably crafted soundscapes have wowed crowds at live shows. Hall is also noted for her work as a synth tutor alongside artists like Loraine James (Hyperdub), Estella Adeyeri (Big Joanie), Nadia Javed (The Tuts), and Rosetta Carr (bassist, Sampha).
“The Knife” was created by Hall after a breast cancer diagnosis, with treatment involving chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and radiotherapy. “[The Knife] began as an imagined letter to my surgeon, written during the months leading up to my mastectomy,” Hall explains. “That time was a living nightmare: the prospect of surgery was intolerable to me, yet the male surgeons would talk quite casually about what to me was a brutal amputation of my sexual identity.”
“Whilst in the hospital I felt like nothing more than a body on a conveyor belt of treatments, in the studio I connected with my anger and my pain, and gave expression to what losing a breast meant at a soul level,” she continues. “When it came to the day of the operation, my surgeon was actually a brilliant woman, who held my fear and guided me through the impossible.”
“The Knife” traverses from a cavernous introspection — haunting in its bass pulses and sporadic guitar injections. An emotive, gripping vocal rise approaches the one-minute turn, arriving thereafter into pointed depictions of the harrowing experience: “While I sleep you’ll take a knife to me,” her vocals maneuver, cautioning “get the fuck away from me.” The track enthralls in its heartfelt account of Hall’s personal journey, set within a sturdy rock intrigue that captivates in its darkly riveting allure.
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The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Indie Rock.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
