- One of the most intriguing things about the astounding mutation and metamorphosis of dubstep has been the sudden bursts of intense colour in what had once been a very monochromatic and dulled sound. Glaswegian producer Gravious—who sadly only seems to release one EP every two years or so—hinted at this with glints of light between his heavyweight beats for Hotflush ("Monolith," "Fall"). His most recent EP, all the way back in 2009 for Highpoint Lowlife, was completely saturated by thick neon shades. On a new EP for Saigon Recordings, Gravious holds onto that rainbow exuberance but tones it down into clear, subtle garage-referencing landscapes.
Surveying a sunrise all warm shades of pink and cooling hues of blue, "Junction City" is soothed by airy fake strings and set afloat on thermal updrafts of gently nudging subs. Turning down the dream dial, "Lodestone" focuses on ascetic, bare percussion rattling against dub chords, as if Gravious stole a Peverelist Fruity Loops project file. Or at least it sounds like it, until the track is overwhelmed by luscious waves of reverb and fluorescent lights. There's something arresting about the way those twinkling synths seem to play connect-the-dots with each other (in third track "Lunar Module" too), mapping melodies that are at once saccharinely obvious but still surprising enough to draw awestruck looks in the exhausted afterglow.
Tracklist A Junction City
B1 Lodestone
B2 Lunar Module