Drowning In The Sewer

The thus far faceless Sydney, Australia artist known as Jvne aka Sewerslvt and latterly Cynthoni is a living personification of a 21st century upbringing in the worst quarters of the internet. Their work is steeped in the horrors of 4Chan and the like, with constant themes of abuse, addiction, dysphoria, despair, dissociation, suicide and, inevitably, anime. It’s a constant battle of chaos vs control, of risking getting swallowed in the tide of humanity’s ugliest aspects vs trying to navigate and maybe escape its currents. The flailing breakbeats of jungle/breakcore are a vital part of depicting this terror-information overload – and this harrowing album (and be warned: it ends with a sample of a notorious livestreamed suicide) is the epitome of that. It also provided a platform to reach startling popularity – and even a kind of stepping stone towards the, if not positive, then certainly less nihilistic Cynthoni era – and a template for a global generation of troubled souls to express their rage and fear.