{{Infobox album | name = Nothing Is Free | type = EP | artist = JK Flesh | cover = Nothing_Is_Free_2012_JK_Flesh_EP.jpg | alt = A blown-out, black-and-white photograph of council estates | released = 7 September 2015 | recorded = {{Start date|2013}}–{{Start date|2015}}<ref name="fact1">{{cite web|title=Justin Broadrick Shares Name-Your-Price Album Under JK Flesh Alias|url=http://www.factmag.com/2015/09/08/justin-broadrick-jk-flesh-nothing-is-free-album/|work=Fact|date=8 September 2015 |accessdate=12 February 2018}}</ref> | venue = | studio = Avalanche Studios | genre = Industrial | length = 55:05 | label = Avalanche Recordings | producer = Justin Broadrick | chronology = JK Flesh | prev_title = Worship Is the Cleansing of the Imagination | prev_year = 2012 | next_title = Suicide Estate | next_year = 2016 }}
'''''Nothing Is Free''''' is the debut EP of JK Flesh, a pseudonym of English musician Justin Broadrick, and was self-released digitally by Avalanche Recordings on a pay what you want basis on 7 September 2015.<ref name="notes">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Nothing Is Free |type=digital liner notes |others=JK Flesh |year=2015 |url=https://jkflesh.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-is-free |access-date=5 April 2018 |publisher=Avalanche Recordings |id=AREC031}}</ref> It is Broadrick's third release under the JK Flesh title, following the debut studio album, ''Posthuman'' (2012), and a split album with Prurient, ''Worship Is the Cleansing of the Imagination'' (2012).
==Content== {{Listen|filename=Hide_&_Seek_(2015).ogg|title="Hide & Seek"|description="Hide & Seek" showcases the EP's shift from heavy metal guitar to a more purely electronic sound.}}
Unlike ''Posthuman'', ''Nothing Is Free'' adopts a sparser, more sterile drum and bass sound. Most of the traditional metal riffs are gone and replaced with abrasive washes of bass and other synthesizer noises,<ref name="SG1">{{cite web|last=Breihan|first=Tom|title=Stream JK Flesh Nothing Is Free EP|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1829095/stream-jk-flesh-nothing-is-free-ep/mp3s/|work=Stereogum|date=8 September 2015 |accessdate=12 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="fof1">{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Russell |title=Justin Broadrick Offers Up Nothing Is Free, a Pay-What-You-Want Album Under JK Flesh Alias |url=https://www.thefourohfive.com/music/article/justin-broadrick-offers-up-nothing-is-free-a-pay-what-you-want-album-under-jk-flesh-alias-144 |work=The 405 |accessdate=25 October 2018}}</ref> which Broadrick saw as a more honest realization of what he set out to do with the JK Flesh project.<ref name="quietus2">{{cite web|last=Raggett|first=Ned|title=Songs of the 'Flesh – The Strange World of... Justin Broadrick|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/20697-justin-broadrick-interview-godflesh-jk-flesh-napalm-death-jesu|work=The Quietus|accessdate=19 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="bcintrview">{{cite web |last1=Wiederhorn |first1=Jon |title=As JK Flesh, Godflesh's Justin Broadrick Finds Peace In Solitude and Techno |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/10/17/justin-broadrick-interview/ |work=Bandcamp |date=17 October 2018 |accessdate=7 November 2018}}</ref> The EP has been noted for its high level of aural aggression as well as ability to be both disturbing and danceable.<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Gregory|title=JK Flesh: 'Nothing Is Free' (EP Stream)|url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/jk_flesh-nothing_is_free_ep_stream|work=Exclaim!|accessdate=5 September 2017|ref=2|language=en}}</ref> The tracks on the album are slower and more darkly psychedelic than those on ''Posthuman'', with Broadrick commenting "I love working in that slowish, 80 to 90 BPM, super fucking gray area. A lot of DJs don’t want to play that stuff, but for me, it’s a great zone to experiment."<ref name="bcintrview" />
Greg Kennelty of ''Metal Injection'' wrote, "The album is a compilation of works Broadrick did between 2013 and 2015, though I wouldn't call these b-sides or anything. They sound like fully-formed, well-produced songs that belong on pretty much any of his projects."<ref name="MI1">{{cite web|last=Kennelty|first=Greg|title=Godflesh's Justin Broadrick Releases Nothing Is Free Under Solo Moniker JK Flesh|url=http://www.metalinjection.net/av/godfleshs-justin-broadrick-releases-nothing-is-free-under-solo-moniker-jk-flesh|work=Metal Injection|date=8 September 2015 |accessdate=1 March 2018}}</ref> Despite being categorized as an EP, ''Nothing Is Free'' clocks in at 55:05, which is longer than many traditional studio albums, including JK Flesh's 2016 follow-up release ''Rise Above''.
==Reception== ''Crack Magazine's'' Billy Black described the EP as "relentless industrial nightmare that proves, if nothing else, that Broadrick is a master of all things unholy,"<ref name="CM1">{{cite web |last1=Black |first1=Billy |title=Justin Broadrick Shares Free EP as JK Flesh |url=https://crackmagazine.net/2015/09/justin-broadrick-shares-free-ep-as-jk-flesh/ |work=Crack Magazine |date=15 September 2015 |accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref> while Klaus Kinski from ''BrooklynVegan'' called it "wall to wall sonic brilliance".<ref name="BV">{{cite web |last=Kinski|first=Klaus|title=Justin K. Broadrick Releases New J.K. Flesh EP (Stream It); Godflesh Tour Starts This Week|url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/justin-k-broadr/|publisher=BrooklynVegan |accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref>
Writing for ''Intravenous Magazine'', Sean Palfrey summed up ''Nothing Is Free'' saying it "blends elements of dub, industrial and noise into a heady and oppressive mix of throbbing beats, swirling synths, static, distorted vocals, and subtle melodies that is cerebral in its execution" and "a rewarding listen".<ref name="intravenous">{{cite web|last=Palfrey|first=Sean|url=http://www.intravenousmag.co.uk/2015/09/review-jk-flesh-nothing-is-free.html|title=Review: JK Flesh – 'Nothing Is Free'|work=Intravenous Magazine|date=September 8, 2015|accessdate=November 2, 2018}}</ref>
Allen Griffin from ''Burning Ambulance'' said Broadrick "displays a keen awareness of beat culture" and praised his sonic palette.<ref name="ambulance">{{cite web|last=Griffin|first=Allen|url=https://burningambulance.com/2015/09/30/jk-flesh/|title=JK Flesh|work=Burning Ambulance|date= 30 September 2015|accessdate=November 2, 2018}}</ref> ''Freq'' agreed calling the EP "supremely confident and knowledgable ''(sic)''", also adding that "''Nothing Is Free'' almost palpably swelters, demands motion, forces the body to change its way of being, to take a chance on total immersion in skilfully structured, blissfully overwhelming noise".<ref name="freq">{{cite web|url=http://freq.org.uk/reviews/jk-flesh-nothing-is-free-ep/|title=JK Flesh – Nothing Is Free EP|work=Freq|date=September 26, 2015|accessdate=November 2, 2018}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_music = Justin Broadrick | title1 = Nothing Is Free | length1 = 5:10 | title2 = Hide & Seek | length2 = 5:11 | title3 = Boundless Submission | length3 = 6:10 | title4 = Peace in Pieces | length4 = 6:18 | title5 = Kontorted | length5 = 4:04 | title6 = Pleasurer | length6 = 10:02 | title7 = Offering | length7 = 6:48 | title8 = They Own You | length8 = 5:54 | title9 = Nails | length9 = 5:24 | total_length = 55:05 }}
==Personnel== Taken from the ''Nothing Is Free'' liner notes<ref name="notes" /> * Justin Broadrick – instruments, production
==Single== {{Infobox song | name = Nothing Is Free | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = JK Flesh | album = Nothing Is Free | released = {{Start date|2016|5|12}} | recorded = 2015 | studio = | venue = | genre = Industrial techno | length = {{duration|m=14|s=43}} | label = Downwards | writer = Justin Broadrick | producer = Justin Broadrick | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }}
The EP's title track was released as a plain black 12-inch single in 500 copies on 12 May 2016.<ref name="RA2">{{cite web |last1=Pearl |first1=Max |title=The Godflesh Man Is Back with Nothing Is Free, a 12-Inch of Solo Material from Last Year Bolstered with a New Remix |url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/34766 |work=Resident Advisor |accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref> The B-side features a remix by Broadrick's fellow Birmingham musician, Surgeon,<ref name="RA1">{{cite web |last=Dicker |first=Holly |title=RA: JK Flesh |url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/jkflesh/biography |work=Resident Advisor |accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref> as well as the track "Kontorted".<ref name="single">{{Cite AV media notes |title=''"Nothing Is Free" (12-inch single)'' |type=vinyl liner notes |others=JK Flesh |year=2016 |publisher=Downwards Records |id=LINO-71}}</ref>
===Track listing=== {{Track listing | all_music = Justin Broadrick | title1 = Nothing Is Free | length1 = 5:10 | title2 = Nothing Is Free | note2 = Surgeon remix | length2 = 5:29 | title3 = Kontorted | length3 = 4:04 | total_length = 14:43 }}
===Personnel=== Taken from the "Nothing Is Free" liner notes<ref name="single" /> * Justin Broadrick – instruments, production * Anthony Child – remixing <small>(track 2)</small> * Matt Colton – mixing
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{JK Flesh}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Justin Broadrick albums Category:Albums produced by Justin Broadrick Category:2015 EPs Category:Industrial EPs Category:Industrial albums by English artists