This release took me the longest to fully sink in to. I needed to hear it walking through the streets of Tilburg, I needed to hear it just before going to bed, I needed to hear it while taking public transport. It’s beautiful, soothing, smooth, interesting, majestic and full of emotion. Basspunk Loverboy connects with life itself. Even before I’m going to get into the tracks I want to state that this is absolutely my favorite release from 2018. Cop it. Now. You won’t be sorry.

Lover Boy

The intro to Lover Boy wouldn’t be out of place in a Shades track, but it soon switches to a thoughtful, sweet guitar lick. The vocals are deeply emotional. You can hear the pain that accompanies the motivation to write this song. It’s a love song in and out, but one with sorrow and spite.There’s a phenomenal use of space. Everything seems close enough to be right next to you, directly connecting with your emotion, but far enough away to feel dreamy and surreal. A thoroughly touching  song that reminded me of my most painful love.

Dune Driver // Reality 2085

The same (slightly altered) intro from Loverboy is used here but to a vastly different effect. It’s not a contrast like it was in Lover Boy, it’s more of an introduction to the toughness that is to come. Distorted vocals give a feeling of hopelessness and loneliness, culminating into a fairly straight forward hiphop beat with a kalimba-esque sound fulfilling the main role. The actual stars are the many, completely weird and wacky fx-breaks which seem to increase in intensity as the song progresses. At some point they appear to overtake the bells in their capacity to weirdify the whole tune and when they fully assimilate there’s an unexpected switch. The loneliness described before switches into ‘choosing to be alone’. A whole different vibe. I’ve got to give a shout out to the shakers that sound like stepping in the freshest of snow.

Alternate Reality (3035)

This is the one. I’m at a loss for words with this track. So let me explain with a situation. When I walk outside I usually have my headphones on and my eyes pointed at my feet. Social anxiety is a big part of that. Listening to this song soothed and relaxed me at first. The tension slipped from my shoulders and my walk shifted from shambling to stepping. I could feel chills slipping through. And, as if instructed, at the 1:13 mark I raised my head and stopped being afraid to look and face the world. Everything was clear. Reality opened up. The Alternate Reality for me was facing and accepting what I see. I cannot thank tiedye kye enough for helping me with this. This track truly is a gem. Of course this is a personal anecdote but I really feel like this music can connect with you the same way. I know I didn’t really break this song down, I’m sorry for that. I can only implore you to let this song overtake you.

Never spin goes out of its way to startle you. There’s a sudden but hilarious yell followed by a just as funny, overblown flute at the start. Pipus’ vocals are fitting; the tune embraces the weirdness and there’s a special fidelity to the ambience the music and the vocals are trying to express. Things truly go wild at 0:59, though. Lots of ripping, distorted basslines. Bleeps that sound like they’re begging, drum breaks that sound like they pray n’ spray. This is a bone breaker. A pelvis puncher.

Chain Smoking in LAX ft. Mindset

Serious Eprom vs. Gantz vibes on this one. It reminded me of Beasts of Babylon at first. It reminded me of Buckwild (Gantz Remix) later. And finally it reminded me of nothing; it definitely isn’t a rehash of anything. It’s its own sinus shatterer as is. The tune remains sweet and subtle until 1:14. That’s where it goes full throttle with a spectrum filling synth, supported by ancient, muffled pads. The percussion breaks are panned brilliantly and give the tune a well rounded presence throughout the whole spectrum.

I’m going to repeat myself. The whole EP breathes emotion and quality. It’s been a long time since I’ve so enjoyed every track on a release. Do yourself a favor and add this to your collection ASAP. Thank me later.