Info on Polish duo SSRI aka Sandra Mikołajczyk and Igor Gadomski is hard to come by. But what we do know is that they are signed to compatriot anti-capitalist label Pointless Geometry, which gives an indication of the type of music that the pair produce. Both are based in the post-industrial capital of Łódź, and for nearly a decade Pointless Geometry have operated outside of the system, providing a home for the avant-garde and experimental electronic musicians popping up in cities all across Poland.
And SSRI are one such band. Nominally falling in the category of dub, the music that the pair produce has been labelled underwater reggae – an epithet that actually sums up their sonic exploits rather nicely. But this is not conventional dub by any stretch. What SSRI combine is a dub aesthetic with an experimental one shifting their music into a cosy little hollow all of its own – the fruits of which are clearly evident on their debut, the self-titled, SSRI.
Take the track ‘Fletuwa’ – the album’s centrepiece (if I really had to pick one) – a ten-minute epic that mixes dub rhythms, looping and the spatial freedom of dub with a pseudo- drone that floats in the background. ‘LAAAAAAD similarly marries dub – which features throughout – with a more avant-gardist approach, but there is so much to discover throughout this debut. Opener ‘JUUUUUUNG’ is an otherworldly voyage of vocal, synthesiser and percussion, while ‘Ombient’ is a lush synth-based drone fest that is as soothing as it transcendent. This is rather ironically in no small part thanks to the pervasive influence of the industrial city in which they live, the noise soundscapes that surround them and to some degree the ability to escape them, not to mention their all-important interest in mental states and their origins (they run a radio programme on this very topic) all of which no doubt feed into this meditative deep listening cum dub aesthetic. They use beats that would not be out of place on a Hyperdub record, and they mix in their effects with gusto. This is a superb mix of styles that works beautifully and however you choose to label it, it’s utterly sublime.
Sarah Gregory
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