- Synkro and Indigo are part of a corner of electronic music that prefers to sound as cold and clinical as possible. They also value emotional impact, using saccharine melodies and a hell of a lot of reverb. The tracks on UK producer Edmondson's debut EP, released on the pair's new Electro Magnetic Fields imprint, live comfortably in this world. Across four very similar tunes, Edmondson explores two extremes—mechanical precision and broad melodic strokes—often in the same six-minute spans.
The three meatiest songs here sound like future garage gone techno. There's a snap and a skip hidden in these beats that's characteristic of Submerse and Whistla's most ebullient work, but there's also a steel touch more akin to Akkord. And they've all got a formula: a few minutes of rhythmic gymnastics followed by a freefall breakdown, before climbing back into rhythmic assault mode. "Odell" fares the worst—its chattering film snippets and Aaliyah sample reek of millennial 2-step cliché, though the framework around it is strong enough to forgive that slight mistep.
"Authentic" is all clenched muscles and microscopic production, as harsh volleys of bass let loose. "Junot" is even more impressive. It's unapologetically austere, but when it nosedives into a dramatic breakdown worthy of a Scuba track, it all comes together like alchemy. The EP finishes off with "Under The Carling Sign," a two-and-a-half-minute interlude that doesn't do much other than show an interest in the Autonomic-style tendencies of his peers.
Tracklist01. Authentic
02. Junot
03. Odell
04. Under The Carling Sign