Tagged as an EP “para iniciar una nueva era, un mensaje de paz, unión y decepción,” Dani Shivers and Bonsai Babies team up for a four-track co-release titled Messengers of Deception, off experimental netlabel LALALA4e. It’s tough not to expect either The Next Coming or The Apocalypse with a tagline of that magnitude, but Messengers of Deception carries a simultaneously curious and pleasant tone.
Right off the bat we’re summoned by the opener’s simple swag-infested beats—which soon after switch to chaotic digital flurries—and Shivers’ maladjusted, hushed talk-singing. “Gateway” remains a more ambient anchor, while “Bringers of the Dawn” engagingly explores lighter Crystal Castles territory. The curtain call, “Alien 666,” feels more immediate, more directly accessible than the other three tracks. All in all, a great collaboration and a fucked-up joy to listen to. These joint ventures should happen more often. Also, the artwork is everything you ever Sharpie doodled on your 6th grade pupitre because ying yangs and aliens ruled.
