[SunkLo]

Collaborations of this pedigree tend to evoke misguided attempts at attribution. One might note Joy Orbison’s presence and assume he’s lent his knack for crafting indelible hooks. And perhaps Boddika’s brought along some of that elastic electro that made Instra:mental’s Resolution653 so damn delectable. This was the case with Swims, the duo’s first attempt at collaboration that was ubiquitous for quite some time thanks to its ice-cold bounce and a vocal sample that’ll forever remain lodged in our collective frontal lobe. But next they went left. Both of their follow-ups — Froth / Mercy and Dun Dun / Prone — were really like nothing either had released previously. All aimed to annihilate the dance floor via a deeper bass resonance than few dare to test. For this third release on their SunkLo imprint, the team recruits Pearson Sound in a move that nearly crippled the Internet’s hype machine upon its announcement. As an impossible-to-pin-down chameleon in his own right, David Kennedy’s inclusion would only ensure further confusion.

And while it’s near impossible to delineate who contributed what on “Faint,” the cacophony works. A sunken kick gives way to a hauntingly contorted vocal sample. The track lurches to a nihilistic tipping point until it snaps to life in a manner reminiscent of Kennedy’s classic “Blanked.” The same sample then becomes clear as a breathy woman’s voice synchs with the quaking rattle to inform us that she’s beginning “to go weak — discomforting effort that will evoke some welcome anxiety if placed in the proper hands. Unfortunately, the flip finds the pair dropping Pearson Sound and turning out their most unremarkable work to date. Labeling “Nil (Reece)” a complete bust wouldn’t be fair, but the track clips and stutters down a path that many have clipped and stuttered down before. “Moist” finds them switching it up again, playfully layering woozy lasers over a washed-out build that wraps in under four minutes. All in all, nothing here matches the event-like grandiosity of “Mercy” or “Dun Dun,” but it does find three masters of sound construction flaunting their ability while allowing us along for another ride.