Hypersensitivity marks no great departure, Lowfish hasn’t journeyed into techno or dived into ambient (yay!). Instead, the Suction artist has honed his sound of autumnal pads and wintery beats.
One notable change of Lowfish’s more recent material has been a lowering in tempos, as in the measured “Scarborough Brutalist” from his C.D.S.N. split with June from 2016. Drums simmer on a low bpm in the slow burning “Arp 294ms.” Rich analogue tones are cut with a stark snare in the moody and murky “Mv37” before the innocent grooves of “Study for Arp and Other Synthesizers.” D Rocher has far from abandoned his trademark sound, instead he has adapted it and added new layers. “Favourable Reports” hums with that same energy, those same lush tones that first characterized this Canadian’s style, yet new elements have been introduced. The track, one of the longest of the 12”, is allowed to develop and mature, to ebb and flow, as intimate notes are distanced by bittersweet strings for a number you will undoubtedly return to again and again. The title piece explores something more familiar for Suction fans. Chords cascade in arpeggio cycles as a beat bites in a terrifically fluid work. The curtain call is the curiously minimal “Blood.” Looming lines echoes over surface noise and a lost metronome in this ephemeral end.
| A1 | Arp 294ms |
| A2 | Mv37 |
| A3 | Study for Arp And Other Synthesizers |
| B1 | Favourable Reports |
| B2 | Hypersensitivity |
| B3 | Blood |
