Sa Pa returns to Dub Techno For Life with Rhythm From Ambient, the second release on the artist’s own newly launched label and a confident follow-up to the Girls On Tour EP. It pushes further into abstract dub techno territory with the self-styled experimental streak that’s defined the imprint from the outset, and it’s available to pre-order now via Inverted Audio Record Store ahead of its September release.
The A-side opens with the ten-minute title track, a long, undulating run of swamp-soaked grooves, heavy dub weight and scattered, gravel-like percussion that establishes the record’s mood with total conviction and gives it real room to breathe. Rhythm follows as its companion, switching to a rougher, rawer energy — an industrial techno cut originally intended for Sa Pa’s 2015 MDR EP, shelved for a decade and finally given its proper outing here.
The flip holds two of the EP’s most distinct moments. Last Dance (Ballroom Dub) is an extended deep house ballad of sorts, warmly haunting and built from atmosphere, groove and slow-burning euphoria in roughly equal measure. Bo Riddim closes things out at a slower, more deliberate pace, laying deep sub-bass and heavy drums under laced-out percussion, experimental textures and melodic fragments that reward close listening. Four tracks in total, and together they confirm Dub Techno For Life as a label with a genuinely clear vision — and the music to back it up.
Rhythm From Ambient is released 14th September via Dub Techno For Life. Pre-order vinyl now from Inverted Audio Record Store.
TRACKLIST
A1. Rhythm From Ambient
A2. Rhythm
B1. Last Dance (Ballroom Dub)
B2. Bo Riddim