1 INTRUDER
The album kicks off with that thunderous Phil Collins beat, which shares more than a little DNA with NWA and early hip-hop. Then the sonic palette is split right open with a frenetic, skittish percussive marimba sound. What follows is a creepy, skincrawling track that pre-empts Lullaby by The Cure in its eerie, whispered vocal that later strains like an animal in pain. Gabriel plays the role of the intruder, creeping across those creaky floorboards at night. The production is close and claustrophobic, as a plectrum scrapes across muted guitar strings in scratchy dissonance. The angular verse resolves into a more melodic chorus refrain, while the tumbleweed whistling part at the end sounds like a country and western film soundtrack. It’s seriously weird and unsettling, though strangely addictive. Today, they’d call it ASMR.