Antidawn is very multipurpose music. The ambient surface is beautiful, yet it rewards focused listening with endless details to uncover. The textures are precise and layered, with detailed beds of noise. Pops and crackles evoke the flawed but deeply personal sound of an analogue music collection. Evocative vocal fragments emerge from the layers of sound, isolated from their host conversations or songs. Much of the music could be categorised as lo-fi, but it contains complexity and invention which belies that label.
A showcase of sound design and sampling, with a cinematic scope, this is unmistakeably a Burial release despite the distance from his famous early works. Antidawn EP is a potent exploration of an ambient sound world. Incredibly, this is Burial's first substantial release since 2007's seminal Untrue, despite producing singles, collaborations, and a full compilation album in the years between.
It was worth the wait.