- Derelicht is a new label from the management agency of the same name, and the first release is a glance at their roster. This makes for a motley bunch, consisting of Last Night On Earth producer ThermalBear, London band The Soft and the increasingly esoteric former dubstepper Killawatt. Each artist taps into their own idea of how to move a dance floor, with somewhat uneven returns.
The Soft start things off with the sure-footed "Icaria," which glides on krautrock-style drums before smoothly folding into a syncopated groove. They maintain an attractively dazed composure, and the melodies and vocal samples melt into a pleasant blur in the background. In contrast, ThermalBear's "Carpe Noctem" layers a warbly synth lead over a staid rhythm so flat and grey it chokes out any color the track might have otherwise had.
The shroud of dark ambient that starts off Killawatt's "Aeolis Mons" overshadows its predecessor, especially once it collects into a broken beat storm. Blowing a hole in the rest of the EP, Killawatt's thunderous racket verges on the apocalyptic without a whiff of the grandiose. The way he keeps his drums from locking into place—a signature dynamism he shows on most of his recent material—stops you from ever getting too comfortable.
TracklistA1 The Soft – Icaria
B1 Killawatt – Aeolis Mons
B2 ThermalBear – Carpe Noctem