Insight Review: Black Visor, ‘Rainy Sundays’ (2017, Uncharted Recordings)

Black Visor‘s latest full-length offering is a cornucopia of hazy piano-driven chill, synthy experimental beats, lush downtempo skits, soulful ambient and future garage – all with an irresistible Eastern tinge. Amazing stuff…

Black Visor is one of those artists who well and truly falls within the genre of ‘uncategorised’. ‘Rainy Sundays’, his latest album (released tomorrow via Uncharted Recordings), is no exception. The 18 tracks presented here intentionally propel the listener from one genre to the next, so that just when you feel you have the album figured out, the next track presents something startlingly original that you just were not expecting. And it all makes for an incredibly immersive, very active, highly sophisticated listening experience.

For us here at Insight, there is something wonderfully Eastern and experimental about this album. It transports us to the bright lights and neon-tinged urban intensity of downtown Tokyo or Hong Kong, where anything’s possible. An example is ‘Hazy Streets’ which layers eastern-style sounds over an Aphex Twin-inspired beat. Another is ‘The Fountain’ which combines a highly sophisticated piano-driven chord progression with a synthy saw-like sound which is just captivating. ‘On Our Way Back’s meandering, beat-driven musings. And our personal favourite – ‘The Overpass’ – an atmospheric future garage experience with backwards vocal patterns that grab hold of you and refuse to let go.

This is not really an album for the casual listener – it takes thought to understand what Black Visor is trying to achieve with his music. Investing time in ‘Rainy Sundays’, however, will reward the listener with an incredible experience that you will want to come back to.

Though an understated artist, you can really hear the talent that Black Visor possesses when you listen to ‘Rainy Sundays’. This is quite an exceptional collection of experimental music which takes the listener on a real journey into the urban depths of the East. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys beautiful electronic music that pushes at the boundaries…

‘Rainy Sundays’ is available from 5th November via Uncharted Recordings.