FiveSidedDice turns broken pieces into a fierce new shape on 'Kintsugi'

There's an appealing sense of movement to 'Kintsugi'. FiveSidedDice wastes little time easing us in, opening with a burst of melodic punk before gradually allowing the EP to shed its aggression and arrive somewhere far more reflective.

The South African solo project of Roscoe Nefdt, FiveSidedDice has spent close to two decades moving freely across the alternative spectrum, and 'Kintsugi' makes good use of that versatility. Punk rock provides the initial foundation, but post-rock, progressive textures and stripped-back acoustic songwriting steadily broaden the picture.

Opening track ‘Misery’ makes its intentions clear almost immediately. A forceful drum entrance gives way to a darker guitar riff before the bass pushes the song forward at speed.

That energy carries through the EP’s opening stretch before ‘The Angel Number’ begins changing the temperature. The instrumental piece draws from post-rock and progressive music, providing a useful bridge between the louder first half and the subdued ending waiting beyond it.

And by the time ‘Look Down’ arrives, the transformation is complete. Stripped of the distortion and velocity that defined the opening tracks, the closing song relies on acoustic guitar and a far more exposed sense of melancholy. Its origins make that shift particularly fitting. Nefdt and drummer Liaan Badenhorst worked on the arrangement during a difficult afternoon at Wild Spirit Backpackers in Nature’s Valley, and that sense of weary stillness seems woven into the track’s role within the wider EP.

Named after the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery while making its fractures visible, the EP considers resilience without pretending that damage simply disappears. Relationships, friendships and individual lives can be altered by hardship, yet those breaks can also become part of what gives them character.

Instead of maintaining one level of intensity, 'Kintsugi' understands the value of contrast. It begins by kicking the door open and ends almost alone with its thoughts.

For a relatively compact release, FiveSidedDice covers considerable emotional ground. 'Kintsugi' is fast, bruised and melodic, but its lasting impression comes from the belief that being broken doesn't necessarily mean being finished.