Bonkers beats and razor-sharp electro; frozen together by
cat-suit-wearing Polish artist Pati Yang, under the banner of Flykkiller; a
band created with her husband Stephen Hilton, who happens to be the musical
partner of David Holmes (yes that David Holmes). First hearing Flykkiller through
the British horror film Salvage, one of their songs that could be heard earlier
in the film was show-stoppingly seductive. The song is called "Fear"
and it's as much of a standout in the album as it was in the movie. Experiments
in Violent Light doesn't quite have a grip on heartrending melodies as nineties
Portishead or early Goldfrapp although the duo channel both bands with their
dark mix of Goth tinged electronic music. You can hear the sleaze and the
industrial clang in the songs with Pati’s vocalizations, half mumbled, half
whispered, never fully singing, are genuinely fleshy and conjure moments of
undress without trying very hard. But what this album lacks is actual songs
which you can imagine being played on the radio, because the songs venture out
of the usual and try to offer up more jagged edges than what you may be used to
(Oh who am I kidding?). Flykkiller make up for sexy, clubby atmospheres with perfect
songs to soundtrack that holiday you were going take to The Matrix, where the
music of this duo should keep you on your toes. The latest work Experiments in
Violent Light presents a fully mature and musically shaped artists. Pati still
moves in the circle of progressive electronics, sprinkled with psychedelia. Pop
melodiousness and sensual vocals contrast with dirty, electronic collages. Pati
has always been one of the most exciting and overlooked Polish artists, and
this project is probably her most obscure record yet.
Cosmic Intercept: An Overview
Born from the shadows of the late-2000s post-trip-hop landscape, Flykkiller was a brilliant, short-lived collision between Polish art-pop siren Pati Yang and veteran British electronic producer Stephen Hilton. Their 2007 debut (and only) full-length album, Experiments in Violent Light, stands as a lost relic of dystopian electronic music. Conceptually structured like a series of fragmented military or government transmissions, the record meticulously charts the discovery, capture, and eventual rescue of an extraterrestrial entity codenamed "V." It remains a masterclass in sci-fi atmospheric world-building, wrapped in jagged rhythms.
Musically, the album acts as a bridge between the smoky, late-night comedown of 90s Bristol trip-hop and the harsh, digital paranoia of the 21s century. Hilton’s production is thick with claustrophobic synths, industrial grime, and twitchy glitch aesthetics, while Yang’s vocals cut through the noise like a neon laser in a smog-choked alley. Tracks like "Fear" and "Peroxide" anchor the project in a haunting, cinematic reality that earned the duo underground critical acclaim but left them criminally overlooked by the mainstream mainstream charts.
