A conflict exists in the music of Profligate, between chaos and composition, different facets of noise and structured arrangements that ebb and flow brilliantly and make for a fresh experience on every listen. I might say that, ultimately, the fact that there exists this conflict implies that chaos reigns, but hey. The project, brainchild of Noah Anthony, is set to release a new LP entitled Somewhere Else, out January 18 on Wharf Cat, and its first single, “Enlist,” offers a perfect view into this assumed duality. Electronics warble and swarm like flies around a half-decayed skull stumbled upon on some barren hiking trail. Were the entire track to remain down this morbid path, it might take years to return your blood to its regular temperature. It levels out and a rhythm is introduced. Ah, structure! Synthesizers flutter airless and inviting and are grounded to solidity with brooding and distinguished bass. It morphs to something solid, paint aggressively thudding against a primed canvas and Anthony’s languid yet mysterious voice now warring with blaring static and feedback. Silky and sleek grainy coarse and crude, and your mind can’t be made up which side to be on. Variations and manipulations pull from the original theme and add to the anarchical cauldron, but it’s sucked back to its original form, like a quicksand, and a facade of order is maintained. But where does it leave you? Or does it leave you at all?
