Dire Need is dominated by a voice. A voice that’s pitched up and down, slowed, sped up, twisted, degraded, decontextualized. The voice makes the song connect with a listener, it gives it force and dramatic value. Dire Need thrums and throbs along, but it is the voice—in the tone of someone hurt, or at least on the outside looking in—that propels the song. Alex Smoke’s record has songs like this throughout, but also songs that call to mind stuff like Clint Mansell’s soundtracks, power electronics like Haus Arafna, and even Junior Boys (at their most minimal)—it’s an impressive range and it gives the album a sort of narrative that's both present at times and hidden at others (like some soundtracks).[BUY Love Over Will]