Let’s not call this album a “re-issue”. Being kind and less cynical we’ll go with the PR blurb and say it’s an “expanded, digital deluxe edition” aimed at enhancing the listening experience…the thing is re-issues usually make sense when there’s history to celebrate, a classic album rediscovered decades later, or a cult project polished with unheard demos. What makes Dead Channel Sky Plus feel slightly awkward is that clipping’s original album only came out six months ago. In the grand scheme of things, that’s barely time for a tour cycle but okay, let’s dive in.
To be fair, the base album remains pretty solid in its execution. Dead Channel Sky was pretty ambitious. A sprawling dystopian soundtrack that garnered a fair amount of deserving, positive reviews for its Cyberpunk theming, lyrics and innovative production choices. For me the sci-fi world building wasn’t as convincing this time out, it felt like a tired retread through many over familiar worlds, attempting to invoke nostalgia but barely shifting the narrative. So I guess the real question is whether adding four new tracks on the Plus edition deepens that experience, or just bloats it.
Lead add-on would undoubtedly be “Night of Heaven” featuring Counterfeit Madison and Kid Koala. It opens up clipping’s sound in unexpected ways with their usual harsh textures making way for languid spectral beauty mixed with scratchy turntablism, Madison’s voice like a ghost haunting the circuitry. It feels cinematic, a proper expansion of the world they’ve been depicting since Splendor & Misery (2016).
“Forever War” is less convincing. Built on acid-techno loops that grind for five minutes straight, it initially hits with force but overstays its welcome very quickly despite Diggs’ verses being sharp as ever. It doesn’t add much that wasn’t already explored across the original record’s second half though as it conjures more imagery of endless conflict and body horror. Then there’s “Hard-Eyes,” a jagged little piece of rave-punk menace. It’s fun enough in isolation but within the album sequence it plays like a sketch. It doesn’t feel like an essential missing puzzle piece, more like an extra scribble in the margins.
The final addition, “Mirrorshades pt. 1”, is the most frustrating. It jettisons the originals’ Cartel Madras feature, that’s now relabelled “Mirrorshades pt. 2” and appears later in the tracklist, and it draws back on the glitchy effects so the vocals float over a more propulsive dance beat. Again, it works fine as a remix but doesn’t add too much by being shoehorned into the album, only to be echoed but better, thats a relative qualification, a little later.
That’s the core issue here Dead Channel Sky didn’t need more. Its density was already a feature, some may say it was over-packed. But their trip through neon, noirish wastelands and wandering sonic corridors gain nothing by padding it out further, diluting high points further. Instead of raising the stakes, the four new tracks mostly underline what we already knew: they can still make nightmarish club music sound intellectually weighty. “Night of Heaven” deserves its place in their discography. But that’s all. Had these tracks been collected on an EP or as part of a deluxe singles drop, diehard fans would probably lap them up without complaint. But sprinkling lacklustre bonus track energy over an original story that already felt complete, even with its flaws, seems pointless.
5/10
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