#42 Feat. Staff Picks in Electronica

Sleep Ds latest offering, Big Sky, Liquid Sun is a 4-track sonic odyssey from the sacred to the seismic, inspired by the duos deepened connection to the natural world and their surroundings. The opener Green Thumbs introduces the EP with what feels like divine invocation, built on expansive string refrains and an enveloping vocal choir. They dialogue with a warm bassline, whose resonance is a sermon on the power of low-end evangelism. Patient and deliberate, the track weaves in high-end synth flutters and a trance-gated vocal that hide-and-seek before the kick arrives, solidifying its pull with surging breakbeat. Mountain Ash flips the tone, grounding itself in a steady, driving techno beat. An arpeggiated synth-line ripples through spatialised percussion, evoking ascent -- each beat a step higher. Acheron Cauldron is the EPs peak, with amplified energy erupting in volcanic climax. At top the sonic crater, the relentless and unruly kick dominates, while a pulsating bassline bifurcates -- one part undulating and low, the other resonant and sharp. Foreground whispers add an eerie thrill, making the track a potent, analeptic weapon. To close the EP, Magma Flow slows into a trance-inducing finale. Repetitive synth-lines create a sense of dreamy and languid reflection, like watching molten lava slowly cascade. True to Big Sky, Liquid Sun, Magma Flow keeps melody at its core, closing with vocals and synths that linger in a hanging farewell. The journey is complete.

Sleep D