- Gabriel Ananda's biggest tune, "Doppelwhipper," was reportedly knocked out live, that is, extemporized in the studio. The difference between it and these two tracks is that post-production is eschewed in the latter case. They bear resemblance to "Doppelwhipper" on one level—it's Ananda in rolling, floor-working mode while centralising a single, emblematic melodic hook—but on another they're rawer and full of spur-of-the-moment builds and drops that smack of an experienced producer in front of the masses.
"Alpha"'s star performer is a gentle shriek that chirps semi-manically, while string-like pads soar, all carried through an end-of-the-world epic chord progression. In "Smash," the darker side of '80s synth pop dons an iridium visor and boards a spacecraft before engaging a warp drive into tomorrow, thanks to a pad that sounds like it could have been borrowed from Autechre's Incunabula. The latter is heavier—the intro rattles like a beefed-up "Spastik"—but this is soon drowned in a fully charged pummel of battering white noise, growling bass and an exhaustive selection of drum samples. It loses some of the quirk that characterises his best material, but in its place is an unrelenting assault on a magnitude that rivals anything he's released yet.
Tracklist A Alpha
B Smash