Remain is the debut EP from The Slow Blade, a project of Dann Gaymer (Guiguisuisui, Nekroma, Shining Dimensions, Daftpop), a British born artist who has spent the past decade living in Asia and touring the world. The Remain EP is a mix of minimal folk, dark blues, garage rock, and ambient soundscapes written while on the road in South Korea, Japan, and Thailand, and recorded in quarantine in Beijing, China.
The EP opens with Remain, the track which the EP takes its name from; a meditation on the fragility of human society in the face of disasters like the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather fittingly this is followed by Death Letter, a dark atmospheric reworking of the signature tune of legendary Delta bluesman Son House. Next is Officer Jack, a garage punk open letter in response to police brutality in memory of George Floyd and everyone else who lost their life due to injustice, itself a reworking of a track by lo-fi avant-garde group The Neon Pirates. Rocking Chair is a sequel of sorts to Remain, imagining what it would be like to be the last soul alive on Earth. The final track Greyness rounds off the EP with an ode to the things we still have in this world while so much has been lost, love and companionship.
“This has been a turbulent year and yet we remain, how we move forward from here is the next chapter that needs to be written.”