Perturbator

**James Kent (born 1993),** better known as **Perturbator,** is an electronic/Synthwave musician from Paris, France.

## Biography

Kent has a background as a guitar player in several black metal bands. Since 2012 he has produced electronic music inspired by cyberpunk culture and with inspiration from movies like Akira, Ghost In The Shell and The Running Man. He uses a variety of software synths in his productions, such as the emulators of old vintage synths like the OB-X or the CS-80.

Since his debut EP *Night Driving Avenger* he has released four full-length albums, the latest of which is *The Uncanny Valley* on the Blood Music label, and has performed several live shows. Several of his tracks were featured in the 2012 game *Hotline Miami* and its 2015 sequel *Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number*. Perturbator's EP *Sexualizer* was released in part to officially release the song "Miami Disco" and as a way to thank the developers of *Hotline Miami*. The success of the *Hotline Miami* games resulted in a greater amount of exposure to a mainstream audience.

Perturbator released his fourth full-length album *The Uncanny Valley* on May 6, 2016 through Blood Music on a range of formats including Digibook CD, vinyl, and cassette tape. The album was met with generally positive reviews, with MetalSucks and Bloody Disgusting both writing in praise of it. Some versions of the album also included a bonus EP, with Kent writing that "The first three songs complement the themes covered within “The Uncanny Valley,” and the final track - “VERS/US” - is a demo from “The Uncanny Valley” writing sessions that fits the mood and atmosphere of the album but didn't quite make it into the final cut. Bloody Disgusting gave the album 5/5 and wrote that *The Uncanny Valley* "is sure to not only please fans of the genre but also win over newcomers."

Kent became interested in music in part due to the influence of his parents, who are journalists and rock music critics. His parents were themselves musicians and had a tech trance band when they were young, which influenced Kent to take an interest in synthesizers.

Kent also has a side project called *L'Enfant De La Forêt* and his own label called Music of the Void.

## Discography

### Studio albums

* *TERROR 404* (May 2012, Self Released) (Remaster released in March 2015)
* *I Am the Night* (December 2012, Self Released) (Remaster released in March 2015)
* *Dangerous Days* (June 2014, Blood Music/ Telefuture Records)
* *The Uncanny Valley* (May 2016, Blood Music)
* *Lustful Sacraments* (May 2021, Blood Music)

### EPs

* *Night Driving Avenger* (March 2012, Self Released) (Remaster released in October 2015)
* *Nocturne City* (August 2012, Aphasia Records)
* *The 80s Slasher* (October 2012, collaboration with Protector 101, Aphasia Records)
* *Split* (March 2013, collaboration with Protector 101, Revolving Door Records)
* *Sexualizer* (June 2013, Aphasia Records)
* *The Uncanny Valley - Bonus* (May 2016, Blood Music)
* *New Model* (October 2017, Blood Music)
* *B-Sides and Remixes, Vol. I* (November 2018, Blood Music)
* *B-Sides and Remixes, Vol. II* (November 2018, Blood Music)
* *Excess EP* (May 2021, compilation of remixes of the original *Excess* track)

### Singles

* *She Moves Like a Knife* (January 2014)
* *She is Young, She is Beautiful, She is Next* (March 2015)
* *Assault* (April 2015)
* *Tactical Precision Disarray* (December 2016)
* *Vantablack* (August 2017)
* *Cygnus* (May 2018, remix of a song from Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas)
* *Body/Prison* (October 11 2018 with HEALTH)
* *Excess* (February 2019)

### Music Videos

* *She Is Young, She Is Beautiful, She Is Next* (2014, directed by Jarkko Kinnunen & Sami Rämä)
* *Sentient* (2016, directed by Valenberg)
* *Venger* (2017, directed by David Fitt & Federico Pelat)

## Links

* Perturbator's Bandcamp
* Blood Music's Bandcamp
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Soundcloud

## References

1. ↑ "Interview: James Kent Discusses Perturbator Project, New Album, & more Tunecore Blog. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
2. ↑ "RIDING THE CYBER DOOM SYNTHWAVE WITH PERTURBATOR". Noisey. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
3. ↑ "Perturbator - Bandcamp". Bandcamp. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
4. ↑ "Perturbator - I am the night". MusicReview. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
5. ↑ "Perturbator - Dangerous Days (Review)". Scene Point Blank. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
6. ↑ "Perturbator - Dangerous Days". The Quietus. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
7. ↑ Small Talk: Perturbator (James Kent). Small Talk. Retrieved 18 January 2014.