Yør – Rave EP

Rave

Golden Boy

2712

With this being only the second release on the Dutch Purple Maze label, Yør is helping the new imprint to get off to an impressive start in this EP. Across this release the producer crafts slow and rich Techno jams that are as deeply atmospheric as they are irresistibly danceable.

Gorgeous title track Rave lays down a fine 4/4 and places itself immediately in Deep House / Techno territory, with a moody reverb-drenched synthline complimenting textured percussion. By the time the track really gets started you have soft pads, starry effects and skittering percussion all laid over that central 4/4, and it all comes together to magnificent effect, balancing a deep Techno darkness with a soft warmth. The richness of the composition, both in terms of rewarding micro-edits and a great variety of sounds recall BNJMN’s latest LP, Black Square on Rush Hour, if his lush compositions were stretched out into end-of-the-night Techno tunes.  The similarly slow Golden Boy is just as exciting, albeit a tad brighter, with distorted House chords duelling a fantastic distended synth rattle for the majority of the tune. With so many artists putting together their tunes with the same software, it’s always welcome to hear an artist who uses sounds and synths that sound like nothing else, and in this respect Yør really excels.

Ten-minute closer 2712 is a real journey, taking the listener through an extended ambient sequence before the track proper begins. One hears lost vocal snatches and atmospheric static before the first kick,  which calls to mind other Techno experimentalists such as Sandwell District and Demdike Stare. After a long period of evocative textures and that single kick, a surprising chord sequence emerges from the ether, laying on a thick energy before the track recedes back towards its shadowy beginnings. It’s not a dancefloor stomper but 2712 is an intensely atmospheric and impressive piece, hinting at a definite mastery over the style and the possibility of a varied output from Yor in the future. Given the quality of this release, it’s a future that I’m quite excited to hear.

8/10