With every layer, from the initial bold declaration set against a neon yellow background to the ghostly traces emerging from a polished, glossy black varnish, Accelerate represents classic studio experimentation, marked by its concealments, numerous layers, interrogations and ultimately, a word revealed by external light reflections and texture on the canvas’s surface.
This intricate evolution is mirrored in its accompanying soundscape – a frenetic compression of the haunting Psycho score into a pulsating rhythm. While Douglas Gordon stretched Psycho into a 24-hour meditative experience (24 Hour Psycho, 1993), the song Accelerate condenses it by a factor of 20, generating an urgent, almost frantic five-minute experience.
The interspersed use of the word ‘accelerate’ in the track evokes memories of The Beatles’ avant-garde piece Revolution 9 (1968) and is accentuated by thousands of samples that shift with each bar. The Wilhelm scream, a nod to Psycho’s climax, punctuates various parts of the song, increasing in tempo throughout its duration.
