Recently resurrected label ‘Apollo Records‘ is back on the scene with an inspired release from one of Manchester’s finest, Joe Synkro. Following the resurgence and success of R&S, which deals more with dancefloor evolutions of electronica, Apollo its sister label has risen from the ashes to carry on its crusade. Renaat Vandepapeliere is once again at the controls from his home town in Ghent, Belgium, releasing the sounds he loves in the form of minimal musical permutations.
Synkro, known widely for his refined Dubstep & 2-step productions, proves once again that he’s thinking forward and willing to break the mold, delivering a 4 track EP of laid back, bass driven music that sounds refreshing and enlightened in times that seem so frantic. Title track ‘Broken Promise’, lays down warm reflective synths over a slow undulating bass drum that sets up a spell binding atmospheric journey. Sparse delayed vocal lines and evocative string parts carry the listener through this wholesome sonic experience to its culmination.
‘Why Don’t You’ plays a call and response game between a male and female vocal cut while incidentals tickle the senses and staggered chord progressions hold a loose, but enigmatic rhythm. ‘Memories of Love’ clings closest to Synkro’s previous productions, building up dynamics through well tailored percussion and textural sound design. Tweaking all the euphoric senses you might expect when endorphins are telling your brain ‘I Love You’, this track stands out as the EP’s crowning moment.
‘Knowledge’ plays along with tribal percussion and densely layered, swaying synth work that purposefully never reaches a conclusion or arrives at its destination. Amidst the layering is what can possibly be described as radio communications between NASA and it’s shuttles, promoting it’s ominous vibration. Built to be listened to as a whole, the entire EP is a joy of sonic expression that leaves the listener content, yet baying for more along a similar strain. Cementing his name at the forefront of modern electronica, Synkro has taken bold steps into the unknown, while re-launching the namesake of ‘Apollo’, a label we can only predict will bring more uncompromising quality to our ears in the near future.
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