Burial – Come Down to Us (2013)

‘Come Down to Us’ is a 13 minute track on the Rival Dealer EP by the electronic artist Burial (Will Bevan). My experience with this electronic masterpiece, is akin to what I can only imagine a black hole would sound like or perhaps even feel like. A bottomless puddle of thick black, with buried voices struggling to escape into 3D, like light from the event horizon. Layer upon layer of dreamy synth and dark muted voices accompany this story of a person or persons struggling with their place in the world.  

“Don’t, don’t, don’t be afraid”  

Everything about ‘Come Down to Us’ screams sadness and fear. From the opening frightened voice stating ‘excuse me, I am lost’, to the affirmed and positive speech at its end, it is a dark journey, albeit an important one for people affected by intense loneliness and possible shunning. The message, through scattered vocals, is strong and pertinent to our times.

It does not matter to me which feeling is evoked, nor will music ever influence my belief system, political, spiritual or otherwise. Music has one purpose for me, and that is to simply make me feel. What this track imparts, is a rich and unforgettable experience of pure sound that tingles everywhere. The running whispers and dread cries of ‘I’m tied down’ throughout the segments of this melodic and dark soliloquy sets something off inside me, it makes me sad for things I don’t know about.  

“You send a good a star” 

The somber base melody of this track is introduced after a euphoric full minute of faint whistles, hushed voices, otherworldly white noise, and almost festive sounding chimes. Its tune is repetitive and trance-like, broken by strained and ethereal voices, like lost souls trying to find their way out of Purgatory, only to be pulled back into it by the drag of the beat. A ketamine experience mirrored in sound.

“This is the moment we see who you are” 

Within 5 to 7 minutes of experiencing this dark soundscape, guns are loaded, alarms are ringing and we are encouraged not to be ‘afraid to step into the unknown‘. The melody repeats the sentiment and the shivers continue to run up and down my spine. The halfway point of the track opens up like the sun breaking heavy clouds. Minor to major, there is nearly a cartoon-like element to the heavenly sounding chimes that now ring through the track. The fear dissipates with the arrival of the new melody, and there is finally solace for the lonely, banished and lost voices. 

‘Come Down to Us’ exists somewhere between reality and fantasy. Similar to experiencing a lucid dream, after 13 minutes, I am sad to return to physical space.  It is both a lament and a lullaby.

“This world that we imagine in this room 
Might be used to gain access to other rooms, 
Other worlds, previously unimaginable.”

by Claire Fagan