Experimental Electronic producer 10th letter has released the video for “Circles,” a track off of his adventurous The Revenge album. The 11-track project, 10th Letter’s second release of 2016, is a concept album about “an African samurai named Yasuke set in 16th century Japan, post civil war,” as the project description notes.
Yasuke goes on a voyage as a ronin, and 10th letter expertly narrates the tale with genre pushing, acidic compositions such as “Circles,” which is dominated by fluttering synths, Saira Raza on the Cello, and an ominous sitar gliding over surging live percussion. The track is accompanied by a psychedelic visual narrative that alternates scenes of martial arts films with 10th letter posing.
10th letter said over email that:
Circles to me is one of the most mystical moments of The Revenge. Kind of like a seance song. I always imagine the main character in the middle of a ceremony of sorts. I tried to convey that in the video. This feeling of communion with nature and the unknown forces that dwell in it.
The peak of the track is arguably towards the end, when the drums drop and his instrumentation trades it’s nimble fluidity for a more flowing, hauntingly graceful sonic denouement.
The Revenge is out now on Psych Army Intergalactic. It’s available to stream and purchase on vinyl here.
