German DJ and record producer Helena Hauff makes her debut on Ninja Tune after several widely praised releases for Actress Werkdiscs imprint. Have You Been There, Have You Seen It is Helena Hauff's first release since the 2015 LP Discreet Desires, a digital noir of techno, electro and industrial that represents her finest work. In the meantime, the Hamburg artist has become one of dance music's most in-demand selectors. What she plays—electro, EBM, industrial, acid and techno, all speckled with rust—isn't known for being friendly, but her uncompromising style has struck a chord. The tracks on her latest EP suggest a business-as-usual approach, untouched by the impulse to make big tunes.
The differences from past material on Have You Been There, Have You Seen It are slight, but worth noting. Hauff's synth leads have rarely sounded as airy and enthusiastic as on "Nothing Is What I Know," though those moods are tempered by her wispy spoken-word vocals. The melodic elements on "Gift," the EP's best track, are dense with warmth and movement—arps scatter, synths soar and bass jabs in hiss-laden electro shapes.
The other two tracks are typical of the scuzzier experiments found on A Tape; they sound unfinished when compared with "Nothing Is What I Know" and "Gift." "Do You Really Think Like That?"'s buzzing synth lead and acid bassline, always on the verge of distortion, tumble nicely together in the track's clap-heavy groove. "Continuez Mon Enfant Vous Serez Traité En Conséquence" seems immersed in the filthy low-end. Only selected bits of percussion, tapped out in morse code-like strings, manage to escape Hauff's 303 swamp.
| A1 | Nothing Is What I Know |
| A2 | Do You Really Think Like That? |
| B1 | Continuez Mon Enfant Vous Serez Traite En Consequence |
| B2 | Gift |
