“Still under the ground” Bones explains over the shimmering production from Cat Soup that fits incredibly well with the overall tone of SESH. The group as a whole is consistent of designers, lyricists, producers, with a focus on creating a deader-sense to music. Their style is iconic but nearly undefinable and impossible to pinpoint. Hearing SESH instantly puts that chill to the spine of the cold October nights. It takes the glimmer and shine off the overproduced mainstream and instead replaces it with a careless attitude toward fame and fortune. The music is what matters to SESH as the overall sound quality on Augmented, and even their past projects has always been able to invoke new emotion.
With Augmented, the music feels at times electronic while using Bones as a catalyst to move in for the kill. Cat Soup does more than an excellent job with creating something that both challenges the flow of Bones, but also keeps the interest of the listener. Cat Soup has also worked in the past on over 20 releases in just his BandCamp discography resulting in a distinct style behind his work.
Beginning with the introduction of “LaboratoryEvacuation”, Cat Soup establishes the eerie chill quickly with the 80’s stylized synths that lead the listener into the foreboding “Pesticide”. With the kick bass and the tapping hi-hat that fills the sound, Bones is left to fill the void. “4-0-0 on the dope, let it go, all my clothes smell like smoke. 1-0-0 on the wraps that we put em in, that’s just one brick oh…” with Cat Soup delivering on a bass line before finally settling behind the near-two-minute-excursion.
Then moving into “Incompatible” and “RetinaScanner” Cat Soup and Bones becomes volatile. With “Incompatible” Bones explains in a dead, monotone voice “Fuck wrong with you, Don’t get along with you. Won’t hit the dope, get in a car or on a song. Don’t like the what that you move, can’t fuck with what you do. Since SESH is always number one, it’s always fuck you too.”
Augmented is not the best project coming from SESH or even from Bones and Cat Soup, but there is a substantial amount of power behind their style and movement that makes it stand out. It is the design, the ability, and the emotional power that makes Augmented feel as another great addition to the SESH library.