Starchris is the debut album by Body Meat – Christopher Taylor. A confident one at that.
At a grand 55-mins, the album is a wide showcase of Taylor's lessons learned in the eight years practising as Body Meat. It’s an excellent example of ambition and Taylor’s commitment to chronology, conceptual development, and the agency to change – a process that feels it began long before Body Meat came to be.
The album is restless and skillfully balanced, weaving orchestral with footwork with experimental pop with metal. ‘A Tone in the Dark’ is a gentle prelude to an album that is explosive, gritty, and intentional. ‘High Beams’ feels like we’re in the thick of it, despite being under ten minutes into the record – rage beats, harmonised vocals and percussive breaks against bell chimes; white noise cut into crash cymbals, angelic melody over wrathful growls.
Taylor’s lack of commitment to genre is obvious in Starchris, fluid without seeming indecisive. Each concept feels thoroughly executed and maximised in potential. ‘Crystalise’ is a highlight of a track whose production wouldn’t be jarring at all to any fan of later hyperpop or noise. However, the abrasive elements of Body Meat come from the rapid changes, abrupt stops and codas that sound drastically different to the ten seconds prior. But these changes are soothed by Taylor’s vocals. Falsettos mixed with autotune, they are glassy, synth-like, and beautiful, refracting through dense soundscapes.
Moments in ‘North Side’ and ‘Starchris’ add dance and RnB into the mix before shapeshifting back to bloops. It’s unsurprising that Taylor’s work is influenced by video game soundtracks. Visuals for ‘North Side’ follow a player running aimlessly – it feels that way anyway – absorbed by static, intercut with real world clips of Taylor.
‘Debut’ is irrelevant when it comes to Starchris in the broader scheme of Body Meat. This is an album by someone who knows what they are doing and have known for quite some time.
Words by Rhea Thomas