After Effects by Komarebi

After weeks of lockdown I'd almost forgotten what headphones were and how to use them. Swiftly-overcoming the difficulties of putting them on I then realised how much I had missed the use of them, no matter how good of a system you may have at home. Some albums always translated really well to the outdoors, lent themselves to a different kind of isolation that we've recently been used to and brought out the best of the world as you walked through it, no matter how ugly it may be. This is one of those albums.

What a perfect opening. One of the best introductions to a track, yet alone an album I've felt in a long time. Mellow and unassuming it breaks into a low-key tech-breaks affair with a classic rhythm and very summer vibes. I'm 37 years old now and it's only right in this moment that I regret never having learnt to robot dance. 'Drift' is exactly what it does - it drifted in, drifted across my brain and then it drifted away.

I'm not left in silence for long, the break between tracks is short and I'm treated to 'Between Zones', another great piece with a simple rhythm that is well-executed. Its purposeful beginning chord sounds very introductory and it's perfectly-placed to switch the mood through the piece.

Many tracks live up to their namesake like the title piece 'After Effects'. It sounds like a process with sounds and events placed skilfully in a queue that bring you to a finished product with a very LFO feel. 'I'm Lost' instills a sense of urgency without straying from the core feeling of the rest of the tracks on the album. I could easily be misplaced in my own home town.

It's here that Komarebi makes good use of continuous pads, bringing me to the edge of panic without letting it spill over. This trick happens elsewhere to good effect - 'Alpha' absolutely breezes through its allotted time, forcing me to repeat it to make sure I didn't miss anything.

The album is full of things that I've truly missed about electronic music - for all the increasing complexity offered by today's offerings that undoubtedly showcase the possibilities afforded by digital techniques, there's a real place for well-structured works that time themselves so well you'll be in a decent rhythm for the rest of the week.

One of those things I didn't realise I had missed so much is the digital cowbell. Yes you heard me - the digital cowbell. 'Day Zero' sparsely-combines it with well-flanged pads, rising outbursts and dissonant melodies for a well-placed midpoint track that doesn't disappoint.

'Glo' has to be my absolute highlight of the album. With the same steady build up as the opening track, it stealthily springs into action with all the ingredients I need to explore the outside. An interesting peppering of digital hats, a rolling arpeggiated phrase to keep me moving and a super-interesting treble phrase that keeps the track together at all steps of the way. Add to that the steady wail of a carefully placed vocal sample and you've got one very happy listener indeed.

There are a couple of tracks on the album that I would love if they made it to a vinyl release. I'm not ashamed to say that I came of age in the realm of Club Trance, Balearic Beats and Euro House (sue me now) and both 'Influence' and the closing track 'Sulphuric' take me right back to being on the dance-floor of places I was definitely too young to get into and wearing those shirts that I thought were quite cool at the time but have since learnt differently. The former is a really sunny piece just in time for the summer and the latter feels like it could be the most-fitting intro to any banging 'drive to the festival' mixtape.

Overall I haven't heard an album recently that has sounded so polished and works as a whole, this is a really good offering on Touched Music and with only 100 physical copies being released I would jump at the chance to get my hands on one. Don't worry though if you miss out on a CD then you'll always be able to get your mitts on a digital copy and support Macmillan Cancer Support all the same.

(Words By Alex Shum)

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