PRIMAL NEED
A Review
By
Stephen Lock
Producer/Host
Speak Sebastian Radio
CJSW FM 90.9

Pocket Universe, an electronic/scene duo based out of Edmonton, Alberta, has just released their second CD Primal through their production company, Fyrewind Productions.

Pocket Universe is Mykel and his consort Moonfyre. Mykel and Moonfyre composed, and performed, all tracks on computer, with vocal stylings by Moonfyre.

Like their first CD, Into The Abyss, this CD can variously be described as trance, meditation, or scene music. Unlike the previous CD, Primal has a more melodious, almost arabesque feel to it with the notes twisting and flowing around a central drum then fading away on an aural breeze.

Each track is designed to take the listener deeper into the various stages of erotic attraction, beginning with that pre-desire state one can’t quite identify, which some sexologists call ‘vague unrest’ and characterized by restlessness and an inability to focus and concentrate on mundane tasks (Notherwhere).

As the strains of Notherwhere ease into the second track, Obsession, the listener is confronted with stark guitar-like chords and Hammond organ, yet the original arabesque atmosphere persists.

Just like the progression of desire, track three (Primal) is a panther slinking through the night; hunting, searching, feeling its blood course through its veins, all its senses alert and ready, it’s heart beating louder and louder before being taken over by the call of Lust.

Lust starts off with the guttural groans of Moonfyre, as she is swept up in the ministrations of her Master’s whip, which forms the base of the track. Trumpets and strings swirl up and around this foundation in a confusion of emotion and sensation, becoming more triumphant as body and spirit separate, rejoin, and evaporate.


The arabesques of Notherwhere reappear in a heavier form in Urge. The base line here is an almost demonic breathing, bestial yet aroused, and focused on the beauty under his sway. These are soon joined by the heavy and increasingly aroused cries and groans of his lover as he brings her higher, driving her to heightened levels of passion. A desert flute weaves in and around the lovers as they drive each other towards increasing passion; straining, yearning, desperate to reach the next plateau, to seek relief from the sweet agony of passion, and yet reluctant to relinquish it.

Blade, the sixth track, suggests a leveling off, when lovers touch gently, whisper to each other, gaze into each other’s eyes, share their souls.

As the listener moves into Fervor, the pace again picks up. A constant rhythm, increasing in intensity, pounds through this track, highlighted by sparkling strings that shoot off it like mini-comets. Waves of aural sensations sweep over the listener, like the endorphins that course through ones body during sex.

Track eight, Whim, begins with an almost jazz-like set of drums and snare, which are soon joined by the snap of a small whip across flesh. A piano stumbles through, seeking a melody, as a woodwind starts to slowly whisper in the background. Through it all, the incessant whirl and snap of the whip creates an almost hypnotic counterpoint.

Seduction harks back to the earlier tracks with its drum machine driving the track and Moonfyre’s breathy whispers of “Seduction, oh dream seduction” wend their way in and around and through the drums and strings. Moonfyre’s lyrics echo through the piece like a half-remembered dream, bits and pieces rising up only to slip back into the mist.

The final track, Dream, is rich and full, swelling up from some unknown well of longing. Languorously, it weaves itself around the central theme, spiraling upward like dense incense towards the light of some obscure temple, spreading out across the dim recesses, becoming fuller with each subsequent puff.

This is not a work ones listens to, it is a work one must feel, experience, and absorb. It is a work of spirit and passion and, perhaps, a way for each of us to again tap into that passion and release it in ways yet unknown.

For more information on this and other projects by Pocket Universe, log onto www.pocketuniverse.org.