Eastgate has written a really great album here, or at least he has invested serious effort, having literally spent years creating one of the percussive rhythmic instruments from scratch.

It’s been five years since LA Priest released an album and in that short timespan Samuel Eastgate has kept himself very busy. Having released ‘Soft Hair’ with Connan Moccasin in 2016 I’ve been interested to hear how his next solo venture would sound. There’s no doubt Eastgate has taken some familiar sounds from that project and ran hard with them.

‘Beginning’ is the aptly named opening track and second single from GENE. Both this track and the lead single ‘What Moves’ are really fun, funky pieces of music. Both build on wonky staccato synths and guitars that induce a trippy atmosphere. ‘Rubber Sky’, the second track on the record preceding the lead single, is almost Beatles-like in its double tracked vocals. Mid-track you’re blasted with arpeggiated pulses of base. Eastgate’s lyrics ‘Finally something good in my life, I run backwards for you, I run backwards with you’, leave you with a palpable optimism; although you definitely sense the pains, past or present, that the artist is trying to overcome.

‘Peace Lily’, which has similarly syncopated baselines and funky guitar plucking, brings a much more contemplative tone than the more upbeat fun songs preceding it. It’s also the shortest track on the album, clocking in at 2:00 exactly, and acts as a nice transition from the first three tracks to the rest of the album.

‘Open My Eyes’ is a distinct departure from the fun sounds of the first four tracks. Reminding me of what I would have expected a second Late of The Pier album to sound like. This track is really enjoyable, especially the lyrics on the chorus. You can sense a sincerity throughout this album that indicates Eastgate is realising some personal truths. The bass lines throughout this track are so effortlessly warm and at around the 3:45 mark the track dissolves into a surprisingly engaging cacophony of instruments.

‘Sudden Thing’ has crunchy guitars drowning in reverb and panning from side to side. Lyrically Eastgate speaks that ‘Love was a sudden thing, Came out the dark with wings, Beat up my old life’; I think you can tell that Eastgate has been through something yet has managed to see it through to the better side. The sombre serenity that comes with the sonic landscape he’s created really adds to the experience.

On the next track ‘Monochrome’ there’s a noticeable tonal shift: as the harsh drum beats come out the pouring rain of the last track, you can feel a previously absent darkness that the previous track, even with its gravity, lacked. As it progresses you get some incredible saw synths similar to harder dance acts like Chemical Brothers or at times even sounding similar to Thom Yorke’s solo work. The track massively strays from conventional song structure and is noticeably less coherent than others on the record. The next, ’What Do You See’, has a similar feeling when Eastgate sings due to the haunting quality of his vocals. But this is swiftly counteracted with some lovely melodic guitar syncopation. Mid-track the singing stops and the atmospheric soundscape is replaced, only for Eastgate to come back up with heavily sampled and edited cuts of his previous vocal take, to great success. 

‘Kissing of the Weeds’ is a strange track, continuing the thick saw-synth tones but bringing the complex drum patterns to the front. It escapes me how Eastgate manages to shift his voice to suit certain styles for each track in such an admirable way.

‘Black Smoke’ starts with a really cool chord progression that reinforces the Radiohead influence on the record’s second half. This track is definitely one of the more ambitious on the album; the sounds used throughout are really stunning. The biggest fault I have with this track is that it detracts from what is an incredible movement in its middle back to the original motif. However, the improvisational style of the percussion at the end is a really interesting ending nonetheless.

The last track on the album ‘Ain’t no Love Affair’ is a weird track but in way fit to end this record. Its moody guitar parts slink over beeping synths and percussion. Lyrically Eastgate repetitively drones the titular line, which brings the nature of the record into question. Was Eastgate inspired by Love? Hurt by love? Whatever the case, you can see these themes of love and hurt reflected in his music. 

There’s a real thickness to the production of this album that compliments the sonic textures Eastgate uses. Eastgate has written a really great album here, or at least he has invested serious effort, having literally spent years creating one of the percussive rhythmic instruments from scratch. The album seems to speak of love and growth as a person. And while it takes a quick turn midway to a much darker place than the first half, this turn is effective and when at its best the album really shines.