Foreign Awake 1 - Sawlin & Subjected - EDLX.033
Forged in the pitch black recesses of underground Berlin, long-time conspirators Sawlin & Subjected have been making
bold, distinct and largely faceless techno from the cloisters of their Vault Series home. Now comes the first in a two-part
EP for Electric Deluxe, titled ‘Foreign Awake’, a much broodier spacy homage than we’ve yet heard from the pair.
Shying away from usual PR and biographies, Sawlin, Subjected and their third Vault Series member Mørbeck have
been making names for themselves on the weight of their music alone. Raw, industrial hues, distortion and chest-caving
basslines are some of the tropes that have coloured their anonymous ascension to date. While Sawlin has strayed a
little from the Vault camp, Subjected has yet to release elsewhere. Until now. In April Subjected released his debut LP,
‘Zero’, which channeled his and the label’s respected tough and concept-free aesthetic into a fully functioning full
length. But for Electric Deluxe they’ve served up something all together different.
Swapping their usual gung-ho floor artillery for swirling atmospheric vistas, subtle tones and cavernous empty spaces,
‘Foreign Awake pt.1’ sees Sawlin & Subjected paint chilling, post-apocalypse landscapes in three parts. Deep, dark and
dangerously hypnotic, this is Sawlin & Subjected at their most compelling.
Sawlin & Subjected – Textures – by EDLX’s in-house designer Jan Willem van den Ban
Consistent with their music and profile, the artwork for the Sawlin & Subjected releases had to be similarly dark and
enigmatic. Revealing little of what’s inside, the cover gives only the slightest hint, but just enough to trigger curiosity.
Dark and underground aren’t necessarily synonymous with black, so the insides reveal a world rich of sound and
colour, step by step.