"Venus Flux is a four track EP that sees the renowned Scottish producer reaching deep into his bag of dub-inflected moods and tricks."
The Far Blue catalogue is small but impeccably curated. No surprise, given a podcast series on SoundCloud that boasts contributions from Philip Priebe, Soela, Martinou, Ben Kaczor, Richard Akingbehin, XDB… the list very much goes on.
Lord Of The Isles provided his very own Far Blue concept mix around two years ago, he now returns to the label to provide only their third physical release, Venus Flux, a four track EP that sees the renowned Scottish producer reaching deep into his bag of dub-inflected moods and tricks.
The EP opens with Mushroom Talk, a piece that pulses with psychedelic energy despite its beatless atmosphere, as shimmering synth lines weave a technicolour sheen over a pool of warm, ambient analogue tones.
Betuladub signifies that full shift over to old-school dubby goodness, all lush chord stabs and swells, dub sensibilities melded flawlessly with house rhythms, complete with some gorgeous sequencing on those hissing, skipping tops for the extra hint of drive.
Our focus track, Pedaldub, leans yet further into that sound, as urgent chord stabs accompany a slightly more urgent tempo and a murkier atmosphere. Simplicity, swing and deftly laid trails of reverb and echo the ear can’t possibly help but follow into the depths, it’s a hypnotic and ice-cold slab of expertly produced dub techno.
The EP closes out with the Lord Of The Isles sound we all know and love. As we come up for air from Pedaldub, title track Venus Flux levitates proceedings to the edge of the atmosphere, airy breakbeats accompanied by rasping synth melodies atop a lush carpet of pads. Weightless, emotionally charged, masterfully fashioned.
‘Venus Flux’ is scheduled for release on 22nd May via Far Blue. Buy a vinyl copy from Inverted Audio Record Store and digital from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
1. Mushroom Talk
2. Betuladub
3. Pedaldub
4. Venus Flux