‘Savannah’ is the highly anticipated final installment of Mr Beatnick’s Synthetes Trilogy, each EP roughly spaced a year apart: the first episode, Synetheses, focused on his then-staple sound of crackling, off-beat hip hop-inspired house; Sun Goddess followed in 2012, with its deep and fuzzy house aesthetic, and won the producer even greater plaudits.
Savannah maintains the high standard of its two predecessors, sticking to analogue textures and cheerily rounded electronics. The title track bumps along with a squidgy bassline (and a similar warmth to ‘Sun Goddess’) as it navigates a cheekily skittish progression, sporadically jumping between rattling percussion, spacey synths and a floaty computer-game melody.
‘Symbiosis’ – arguably the highlight – reverts to those more downbeat tempos Beatnick’s known for pre-Syntheses, but again, doesn’t sit still for long, throwing gorgeous, delicate string samples over loose analogue beats.
Meanwhile ‘Parallax Scroll’ tips its hat to hardcore, rave chords fading in and out amidst the fervent rattle of percussion. ‘Blue Dream’ also sounds like a nod to the past, albeit spruced up by all of Mr Beatnick’s production quirks; an otherworldly synth is offset by some ragged electro percussion.
All in all, a wonderfully diverse and inventive album from the East Londoner.
Dont Be Afraid | Released: April 29
