The Duel by Thomas Penn
Trip Hop beats and mind pieces
On his debut album The Duel, Thomas Penn packs plenty of perky rhythm in compliment to ear-wormy melody; the trio of tracks Night Terrors, The Spirit Molecule and Little Albert in particular nod politely to Trip Hop's legacy with emotive use of ascending and descending bass lines alongside skeletal piano phrases. Notably, while melody is a key element common to all eleven tracks, there's a deeper concept at play, one related to the brain and human consciousness, provided through track titles and some vocoder elements. For example opener Brahmarandhra alludes to the established Hindu rites of passage, while As A Man Thinketh references a self-help book (by James Allen) from 1903! The Spirit Molecule, aka DMT (a hallucinogen with physiological effects) and Psychological Dependence offer further mind-related hooks. And closer Destination Karma loops back through life’s journey to rebirth and the Brahmarandhra.