Soaring, rippling ambient drifts and crisp sidechained synth throbs come together into a perfect, cohesive dance of rhythm and melody, with local favourites Pure Life's latest release from Cryosauna, 'Restless'.
'Urban' beautifully sets the precedent for pace, with slowly growing organic echoes and warm pads joined by momentous percussion and twinkling melody. If that was the starter, it's easy to see the brief lysergic wooze turned euphoric brain-massage of follower 'Steel' as the main course, with the echoing abstracted vocal samples providing an ever-changing audio cushion for the crisp and intricate percussive slices.
I'm instantly reminded of the uplifting drift and FM'd digital chords of Japanese city pop or Burial's more ear-friendly percussive streaks (honestly, the percussion programming and sonic depth is mindblowing), and while the more thoghtful moments veer faultlessly into Vangelis-like walls of CS-80 saturation and echoing paddles, the more propulsive moments could easily be slammed out on a dripping dancefloor at 3AM ('Ishii' is probably my abosute zenith of banger / chill ratio).
They just keep coming too, 'Dremcipher' starts like it's going to launch into some Neptunian acid, but soon turns into an alien wash of dubby basses and compressor-laiden chords before the title track shows that braindance can *always* be around the corner (lest you forget it). It's all brilliant, anway and needs you to listen to it. I already know this one will sell like the Cult Member banger from last year, and it desrves to as well. Ace.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Rippling synthwave, crisp IDM percussion and roaring, D&B adjacent bass drops, a beautifully produced and perfectly paced electronic odyssey.
TRACK LISTING
1. Urban 02:12
2. Steel 04:15
3. Jade Glass 02:03
4. Cobalt 03:30
5. Ishii 04:09
6. Disused Sector 02:45
7. Dreamcipher 04:31
8. Restless 04:51
9. City Mist 04:06
10. Midnight 03:53