Golden Triangle by Sex Swing

In our experience of the opioid crisis, we hardly ever consider the ultimate origin points, but British experimental post punk band Sex Swing fills this gap with Golden Triangle, the story of a region of Southeast Asia home to some of the most beautiful land, most vibrant culture, and most opium production in the world. Adopting krautrock songwriting sensibilities, the band repeats patterns in its rhythm section while gradually ratcheting up tension with additional layers of guitar, saxophone, synthesizers, and feedback. What at first glance appears as a picturesque paradise gradually reveals itself as an imperfect and at times downright ruthless environment that treats local residents as mere means to a global drug trafficking end, a path of discovery that mirrors the exponential rise in dynamic musical intensity within each track. All the while, distorted vocals wail in the background, struggling desperately to fill in the nuances of the scenes unfolding before us but ultimately drowning in the weight of the raw emotion that accompanies the revelations of imperialism.