SPIME.IM is an experimental audio-visual collective that has created unique music with supportive and imaginative art and video installations since 2019. Their most recent venture was the Zero EP of 2020. In their words, Zero was a starting point and extrapolation of their debut project EXALAND. Now for 2023 SPIME.IM is releasing a new project titled Grey Line. This new collection of audio-visual stimulation examines the different grades of greyscale and each variance’s connection to the human experience. While listening to SPIME.IM – Grey Line, you’ll hear multiple genres’ influence in this electronic journey that also includes guest voice artists.
Grey Line catches your attention immediately with its opening track Crystal. It features the spoken word of Stina Fors combined with speedy pitch-changing kick drums and impressively edited loops of previous phrases spoken by Fors. Altogether the mix keeps the listener on the edge of their seat with constantly changing unique audio grooves. The second track Heliotrope takes on a more melodic approach. It opens with a brief piano prelude before a melodic and percussive synth takes over. As Heliotrope progresses with constantly changing grooves like its predecessor Crystal, a familiar macabre melody continues in the background from a synthetic orchestra until it fades away into a moving ambiance that concludes the track.
Mystic is the third track and it combines the edited vocal loops and vibrant pitch-changing kick drum stylings of Crystal with similar grim melodies like the ones featured in Heliotrope. Simple is the fourth track off Grey Line and it lives up to its name. It features just a choppy percussive synth melody that slowly evolves. The evolution builds until it meets an unexpected chordal resolution at its completion. The fifth track Acid has no melody with its sonic focus being a hallucinogenic ambiance behind simple distant drum grooves. Frequently, throughout Acid you’ll hear dramatic hits interrupting the groove from other percussive objects as well as crackling electrical sounds.
Pure, the album’s sixth track also features a voice artist. This time the dialog is provided by Lorem who brings a frantic and synthetic-sounding call to action to Grey Line. The voice-over is accompanied by various drones as well as rhythmic percussion instruments that follow and react to the dialog from just behind it. The seventh track Mirage follows a constant didgeridoo-like groove from its powerful trance synths. The album’s final track Hint is also its longest-running. It fluctuates between familiar pitch-changing and high-speed kick drums to psychedelic ambiance moments. At its halfway point, Hint features DnB-influenced grooves as tension-building mid-ranged drone sounds above the drums. The tension continues to grow thicker as well as busier until it fades away into oblivion concluding the album.
If you are looking for an opportunity to experience the full audio-visual experience of SPIME.IM you can find them as performers at Montreal’s Mutek Festival of Digital Creativity and Electronic Music in late August. A second upcoming opportunity to partake in the full SPIME.IM experience will be convenient for Europe-based enthusiasts as they will also be performing at the Romaeuropa Festival of Italy in early October. As we have covered in depth the musical aspect of Grey Line, the visual aspect of its installations must be taken in to have the full appreciation for how remarkable this project is. Live performances are ideally the best way to experience all of SPIME.IM – Grey Line‘s aspects. However, if you find yourself unable to attend any of the upcoming live opportunities we highly recommend seeking out their online video content instead. Make sure to also follow SPIME.IM on Instagram and Spotify.
