Sewerslvt – Draining Love Story (2021)

A hyper-poppy, late-stage capitalist break-fest from Adelaide based producer Sewerslvt, Draining
Love Story deals with dark themes of depression and suicide whilst delivering powerful euphoric
moments. Sewerslvt marries the excesses of hyper-pop with the deep intoxicating rhythms of jungle,
taking these elements to the point of absurdity, creating a work that portrays a deep sense of
impending cataclysm.

The 6th studio album from Adelaide producer June under alias Sewerslvt, an alias that has
consistently pumped out intense and depressive drum and bass tunes, which are genre bending and
defying, making it difficult to place Sewerslvt in any one category. Draining Love Story, however,
seems more committed to two genres, hyper-pop and jungle. Despite many an internet music nerd
arguing that Sewerslvt is not a hyper-pop artist, the exaggeration of pop elements in Draining Love
Story is undeniable. Sewerslvt can achieve a palpably melancholic tone through atmospheric pads
and haunting samples, however it never wallows in melancholy, with Jungle drums persistently
providing momentum and pushing the album onwards. By tackling weighty themes of mental health,
cataclysm and collapse whilst still providing euphoric harmonies and hypnotic rhythms, Sewerslvt
creates a multidimensional album that portrays a profoundly complex emotional cocktail.

Cultural critics and philosophers Mark Fisher and Nick Land, in their work at the CCRU (Cybernetic
Culture Research Unit) developed accelerationist philosophy, the idea that society should accelerate
it progress to the point of some eventual collapse, that will lead to the rising of a new political order.
They also happened to be obsessed with Jungle music, seeing its hyper-sped up drum breaks and
exaggerated elements as emblematic of the accelerationist ideal, capturing the chaos and disorder
of late-stage capitalism and taking them to the point of absurdity. The genre of Hyper-pop, likewise,
exaggerates musical elements to the point of absurdity, critiquing the formulaic tendencies of
mainstream pop music. Despite clearly belonging to neither jungle nor hyper-pop Draining Love
Story is dense with influences from both cultural currents and finds the common thread of
acceleration towards an eventual demise and places it on display, hammering the listener with
soundscapes that transcendentally speed you towards cataclysm.

Not only does this marriage of hyper-poppy synths and melodic elements function in its portraying
of a potent message, it also functions musically, providing euphoric harmonies that provide respite
from the intensity of jungle breaks, whilst all being coated in a healthy layer of distortion that glues
both elements together into a melancholy blur. Normally, so called “muddiness” in a mix would be
frowned upon, but in the case of Draining Love Story, it serves a clear function, as when elements
spiral into a distorted mush the listener feels potently a descent into legitimate madness.

Draining Love Story’s tackling of themes of mental health is overt and unashamed, with titles such as
Mr. Kill Myself and Swinging in His Cell paired with chilling vocal samples that discuss suicide, self-
harm and self-loathing, as well as discussing a rejection of existing societal expectation and order,
particularly as heard in Ecifircas. Sewerslvt seems to portray a link between societies expectation
and mental health, mirroring Guattari’s idea of mental health as rejection of the social order, and
emerging from societies tyrannical structures. Through this Draining Love Story feels rebellious,
drenched with melancholy whilst still providing a powerful statement against the existing order.

The opening song, Love is a Mighty Big Word, initiates the listener into the unique tone of the
album, as it slowly morphs from new age pads to distorted and disturbing industrial textures,
providing a premonition for the sense of impending cataclysm that follows. The following two tracks,
Yandere Complex and Ecifircas, perfectly exemplify the conversation between hyper-pop and jungle
elements, with the melody at the start of Yandere Complex sounding poppy and digital, and the
drums sounding tape distorted and programmed in the style of 90’s jungle.

Lexapro Delirium is undoubtedly the weakest point in the album, as the weighty and apocalyptic
tone that is established in the first three tracks is lost, replaced by a lacklustre 90’s rave track that if
not for the trademark distorted mix would feel horribly out of place. Furthermore, its one of the
longer tracks on the album, at just over seven minutes, with the next track This Fleeting Feeling, a
much more powerful atmospheric tune that features weighty harmony, with each chord change
feeling cataclysmic in scale, only going for three and a half minutes.

After the rough patch of Lexapro Delirium, Draining Love Story blossoms into its full weighty,
melancholic beauty, with This Fleeting Feeling, Swinging in His Cell, Mr. Kill Myself, Down the Drain
and finally Slowdeath, all capturing a sense of dread and melancholic euphoria, a strange emotional
mix that is undeniably the best of what Sewerslvt has to offer. In these songs, the contrast between
the dense and rhythmic, and the weighty and atmospheric is tremendously powerful, and as they
are both pushed through a crisp distortion, they create a strangely melancholic danceability.

Swinging in His Cell, is the highlight of the album, starting with deep horns and pads that sound alien
and terrifying, blasting out dissonance that threatens impending doom. This is quickly replaced by a
vocal sample that states, “Your buddy Caslin, he’s swinging in his cell right now,” before giving way
to pads and breaks that again feel cataclysmic in scale, overwhelming the listener with its sombre
tones that in a strange way also feel tremendously uplifting. With this song it feels as if Sewerslvt is
saying; yes, we are all fucked, but let us relish the impending descent into chaos. The drum
programming also fully hits its stride in Swinging in His Cell, with a perfect balance struck between
chaotic complexity and potent simplicity, as Sewerslvt still programs in a style much more 90’s
Jungle that modern breakcore. This more restrained drum programming serves a clear function as it
prevents the works from ever being overbearing, as always Sewerslvt is unafraid to lend the
arrangement some space and provide respite for the listener.

The final track of Slowdeath engages in much more hyper-pop-esque melodic ideas than previous
tracks, and slows down the tempo considerably, providing a sense of finality. The title also hearkens
to the emotional tone of the song, a work that through its slower tempo and deep pads feels like the
slow death after the chaotic descent of previous tracks. Slowdeath’s departure in sound from the
other tunes feels much more successful than the change that Lexapro Delirium attempts and feels
like it bookends the album rather than disrupting its flow. As the track fades out and only a deep
industrial drone remains the track releases the listener from the gripping intensity of the album and
leaves the listener in a morose serenity.

Draining Love Story’s portrayal of a feeling of impending cataclysm is deeply relevant to our current
predicament, as ecological catastrophe seems ever closer and mental health is on the rise, Sewerslvt
captures the legitimate fear of what lies in the future through a musical acceleration and
exaggeration of existing musical elements to an extreme. The album’s emotional arc is
transformative but for one hiccup, and takes the listener through a descent into chaos and
depravity, until finally leaving the listener with a airy drone that signals the return to reality. Despite
Sewerslvt’s transcendence of genre, there is a palpable emotional tone that is struck in Draining
Love Story, that captures the shortcomings and seemingly inevitable downfall of our present society.