The cover of Fatima Al Qadiri’s second LP features a photo of a worse-for-wear -Teletubby dressed in police riot gear, by artist Josh Kline. The unsettling portrait sets the tone for the usually abstract musician’s most blunt and accessible work to date: an album-long response to state-backed violence against protest movements like Black Lives Matter and Occupy.
Al Qadiri’s music typically unpacks concepts related to genre and history, and in a way Brute does, too – it is protest music. On opener Endzone, a sample of a cop in Ferguson using a Long Range Acoustic Device to disperse protesters is paired with a plodding thud that feels like a sound design or film score evoking a monster-movie- doomsday scenario.
From there she uses dialogue samples sparingly, with ominous bass synths, tactile effects and shuddering high-notes that capture a sense of fascistic creep. Her signature hollowed-out minimalism nicely suits the subject matter, sometimes rising in urgency before falling into a deceptive calm.
Top track: 10-34