Bristol’s GOTO Records adds another gem to its distinguished roster of innovative electronic offerings with Licking Orchids‘ debut EP, an immersive pull of hazy rumination that hovers between darkwave, shoegaze and synthpop in its introspective fog. With production help from Finlay Shakespeare, Licking Orchids‘ unique take on bedroom pop reaches into the prickling disquiet between sonic abrasion and celestial atmospherics.

First track ‘Muzzle’ perfectly illustrates the fascinating frisson that pulses throughout the EP. Piston hisses and choppy drum loops throb and oscillate like the veins of some gargantuan entity, coarse industrial textures slither and grind with such awesome enveloping power images of dramatic, cracking landscapes and shifting terrain are conjured from its deep, cerebral groove. Licking Orchids counters the coarse grind with stunningly ethereal vocals that pierce through the harsh strut beautifully, siren-like singing which binds the whole piece into a swirling, storm-ridden whole.

Further depths of swamp pop are plumbed on ‘Devils’, guttural bass stabs churn around whip snares and threaten to smother the twinkling synth melodies that tease underneath, like grungy pennies in a stagnant, neglected fountain. ‘Tulpa’ takes a more conventional approach to synthpop, but no less interesting, with infectious rhythms and glittering keys from the Yazoo formula with a touch of The Knife’s haunted timberland, yet her vocals step up with reduced effects to propel the track with a rawer urgency.

Despite seemingly scant material behind her and little fanfare surrounding the EP, Licking Orchids is a thrilling effort that immediately stands shoulder to shoulder with Bristolian contemporaries such as E B U or New Haunts, and deftly manages to wield acrid drone with otherworldly electronica and finds the fraught harmony between the two.