Consisting of duo Takiaya Reed (saxophone, guitar, live effects) and Sylvie Nehill (drums, live effects), Divide and Dissolve is a project which believes in the potential of art to instigate societal change. Music as a mode of power, a way to continue a fight which started generations ago. Released earlier this year on Invada Records, Gas Lit encapsulated this, blending crushing doom metal and detailed neoclassical styles to attack the ruling system of white supremacy and imperialism. Writing about single ‘We Are Really Worried About You‘ we described how the album “meld[ed] beauty, strangeness and unforgiving fury,”
From the portentous mystery of Reed’s saxophone opening to the relentless march of Nehill’s percussion, the song serves as an encapsulation of the Divide and Dissolve mission. One willing and able to draw on every tool afforded to them, chart every mood and emotion, call upon every mistreated and dispossessed person to reveal the hollow myth at the heart of the white hegemony. And to destroy it with violence and love.
But Gas Lit did not end there. Divide and Dissolve have again teamed up with Invada Records for a new EP that invites artists to remix tracks from the record. The aim is to further the power and potential of the songs, refocusing their energies to continue their assault on the frameworks of oppression. One such example is a new version of ‘Denial’ by BEARCAT, a remix which halves the runtime of the original and sands back some of the heavier edges, though maintains the intensity through a disorientating array of synths.
Born in London and now based in the US, BEARCAT is a DJ, producer and self-described “dance therapist” who uses music as a curative force—aiming to heal both herself and her audience through her practice. “The sax really screamed to me,” BEARCAT says, “[I was] really obsessed with how Takaiya can make an instrument sound like a vocal and other instruments.” The title grabbed her attention too, with the idea of denial informing so many of the structures underpinning Western society. “Denial plays a huge part in the functionality of white supremacy,” she says. “I also think we are all in denial to some degree functioning under capitalism.”
The uncompromising BEARCAT sound proves an ideal match not just for the track, but the Divide and Dissolve mission as a whole. “D//D unapologetically asks that you destroy white supremacy,” BEARCAT continues. “For me these days it’s not enough to just ‘not be racist’. In my eyes if you’re a white person you have to actively be undoing the work and that means being anti-racist and being vocal about it too.”
Artwork by Ryan Mowry, photo by Jaimie Wdziekonski