Frankie Rose

Small Black has come a long way from their eponymous EP to the most recent (and largely underrated) “Limits of Desire.” The most notable change has been the enormous increase in production. Their remix of Frankie Rose’s “Sorrow” is crisp, devoid of the early glo-fi sound of “Despicable Dogs.” However, there’s still the lovely blend between chillwave and pop barbs that both lull and excite. The opening synth backbone has warble like it’s coming off aged magnetic tape, and the vocal cut-ups keep our heads above the water. The punctuation of synth working like Morse code with a bass with heavy side chain compression really brings accents vocals. The surf guitar is a barb you can’t avoid. It grabs on and doesn’t let go. The vocal work after three minutes is the perfect trim to bring it all together before letting it all go.