Exsil

From the ashes of projects past, Exsil grew in the pandemic A reaction to isolation, and hysteria, empty streets and half remembered dance floors. Exit Strategy is the second full length from Cardiff born Exsil, following on from 2020's Disavowed, and the "Acceptable Loss" mini-album earlier this year, and hot on the heels of remixing 70's punk Icon's Crass for their "Normal Never Was" LP. Where Disavowed was forged in the crucible of lockdown, creating a dark claustrophobia, and barely restrained sonic aggression, a soundtrack to uncertainty and fear, Exit Strategy is a record about moving on, whether that is from a physical place, a person, or just a way of thinking. The Exsil sound is woven from dense and complex electro breaks, glitched and bass heavy, but always a driving insistent pulse with fragments of haunted melody strung around its core. Pulling in threads of 80's electro analog warmth, and outboard production techniques, but with contemporary intensity, refusing to be limited by genre boundaries, this isn't music that is trying to "emulate" anything, but push forward, instead of cashing in on empty nostalgia. The beats remain weighty and solid, the bass distorted, twisting and growling, but there is an element of light in the void at work here, and a kind of new optimism, whilst losing none of the impact. Previous incarnations of the artists have seen him recording Evening Sessions for Radio One, been interviewed on Radio One and Radio Wales, had radio play and support from DJ's including Annie Mac, Steve Lamaq, Huw Stephens and Bethan Elfyn, recorded guest DJ mixes for national and local radio, spent over a decade playing weekly live radio shows, played live with some of the cream of the underground electronic music scene, from the likes of Death in Vegas, Mercury Rev, Shitmat (Planet Mu), Red Snapper or Cylob, to bills with the legendary John Peel, and the likes of Max Tundra (Warp) Kode 9, and the Acid Casuals (Novamute). Where next remains to be seen. If "Exsil" means anything, it is "outsider". Standing on the fringes, and not looking in, but looking out.