Innershades

Repress of in-demand Innershades rave tracks, the first release of his Altered Circuits imprint, now with full sleeve artwork.
Over the last decade Innershades has been delving into a broad array of electronic music genres via his releases and DJ sets, aiming to strike a balance between the club's straightforwardness and the sensitivity that lies below its surface level. Even though piercing basslines, fortright leads and foor-on-the-floor pulses steadily fuel his tracks with directness, a sense of intrigue and melancholy never quite stops prowling underneath. The Belgian producer furtherly substantiates this approach on ''Faith Of The Misbelievers'', a five-cut EP that serves as the maiden release for the newly set-up Altered Circuits, an electronic music outlet he will be co-curating. ''Default'', a moody banger in vintage Innershades style, opens the A-side. Ominous chords and a band passed square groove are joined by a floaty lead that softens the track's edges a pinch. ''Two Worlds Apart'' drifts in and out of Bleep territory as acidic leads and pocket-calculator styled motifs surface and retreat, before ''850i'' with its glaring minor-key bassline and paranoid arrangements returns to darker reaches. The B-side's drum parts are layered with rough and rugged breakbeats. On the EP's title track saturated stabs and hypnotic synth lines connect, ahead of the arrival of a filtered chord that injects the mix with a dose of restraint. It is classic rave reinterpreted for the smoke machines and low ceilings of the hazy afterhours. ''Flying Birds In The Sunset'' supplies hi-energy DX bass and organ patterns, kept in line by plucks and halcyon pads that evoke nineties trance. References like these subtly demonstrate the producer's awareness of his antecedents, and make the cut the proper closer for an equally sharp record.

• 1 Default
• 2 Two Worlds A Part
• 3 850I
• 4 Faith Of The Misbelievers
• 5 Flying Birds In The Sunset