It’s been close to ten years since the ASR-10 keyboard maestro Brahm has released a full-length album, but judging by his latest sci-fi concoction, Ratimis, the decade has been put to just the right use. Released on Swedish Columbia this past February (2/24), the concept album revolves a future defined by an overwhelming absence of media, with just a single enigmatic broadcast station remaining intact.
Easily the most ‘80s-esque song off the LP, “Midnight Wolf” is an electronic slab of nocturnal energy. Pairing a lurking synth line with the far-off call of a guitar, the intro gives way to a steady progression of slow-pulse drum machine and moody sax work that wouldn’t be out of place in a Badalamenti score, which is quite fitting when taking the tone of its music video into consideration.
For this visual piece, Brahm joins forces with the underground experimental horror savant that is Damon Packard, and the results are nothing less than a pitch-perfect collaboration through and through. Containing anomalous, perplexing imagery of Lynchian proportions, driven by the shadows and whirled lights of late-night Los Angeles, the footage seamlessly accompanies the brooding dynamism of “Midnight Wolf,” as the faces of wayward souls, doused in purple and smoke, linger for just long enough to implant themselves within the mind.