Song: Tendertwin – Plastik review

by Jessica Robins

As a kid, I would always be slightly disappointed by trips to the seaside where I was met by gentle tides lapping at the shore. Where was the drama? Where were the waves of terrific and terrifying size? The deafening crash and relentless swell of an ocean that could devour ships and carry us off to lands unseen. Little did I know that, if only I had the time to wait, they would come.

We have been treated to Tendertwin’s unique talent of crafting songs that build to unchartable moments before – namely her last release, Absolute Nobody. But on latest single, Plastik, she elevates her masterful use of suspense to new heights. Creeping through a side door with hushed keys and her soulful melody, she is interrupted by ambient glitches and an ominous swell that turns the track in a far darker direction. And before you know it, you are unmoored, awash in a swirl of trip-hop beats, voices from all directions, and a disorientation so delectable you have no desire to return to land.

No artist’s third single should have production values as strong as this – where a vision is embedded in the very building blocks of the song. It often hangs on a knife’s edge, coming close to fraying at the edges, before a free fall into the welcoming arms of a swell of strings. It is massive in its ambition. And what is life without a little drama? May Tendertwin long continue to create these mini epics for us to be swallowed up by.

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