"This is an EP that isn't going to be heard out for some time and Shuttle gives us something slightly more contemplative, home stereo affair"
While the adjectives “deep” and “psychedelic” often get abused and battered when describing dance music, it’s hard not to return to them when talking about Italian maestro Marco Shuttle, especially on a release titled ‘Inner Euphoria’. That said, on his first release in over three years on his own Eerie label, Shuttle continues to develop a particular strand of this deep and psychedelic sound, wrestling both the futuristic and the funky from the depths of his machines.
‘Homemade House‘ slinks along at around 110 BPM, while a looped melody and skittering synth duet across the high end of the track. The track seems to continue the more introspective and melodic moments that we’ve seen the sketches of on his recent releases for labels like Neel and Donato Dozzy’s Spazio Disponibile and Bryan Kasenic’s The Bunker New York.
‘Anke’s Call’ is written in a similar vein. The track starts off in halftime where an upbeat and a number of bleeps and bloops bounce off the side of the stereo. The track begins to pick up momentum as an arpeggio enters the track, giving you the faint impression that there may be a dance floor bomb hidden in this track. Shuttle pulls a fast one though, and a chime-like melody and some ascending chords are the payoff. Like the A2, then, it’s hard to imagine hearing this track out.
And maybe that’s the point. This is an EP that isn’t going to be heard out for some time and Shuttle gives us something slightly more contemplative, home stereo affair. Even the EP’s two songs that colour within Shuttle’s more defined DJ-friendly lines are a far cry from being tools. ‘W.E.I.R.D.’ plays like it sounds. There is a stuttering arpeggio that constantly threatens to disintegrate as a muttered kick low in the mix tries to hold the whole song together. At the halfway mark some delayed percussion and reverb enter the fray adding more opaque textures to the song. The effect is dizzying, if not completely disorienting.
The B2 and title track ‘Inner Euphoria’ is similar. A kitschy melody dominates the track, while some broken percussion layered beneath give the track an almost electro stagger. And this is precisely what euphoria sounds like at the start of 2021: muted, a bit icy, and like it can’t quite find its feet.
‘Inner Euphoria’ EP is out now via Eerie. Order a copy from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
1. W.E.I.R.D.
2. Homemade House
3. Anke’s Call
4. Inner Euphoria