DESTO – GLASS CLOUDS EP
(RAMP RECORDINGS – RAMP043)
1. Desto – Glass Clouds
2. Desto – Stay Strong
3. Desto – Stay Strong (Late Remix)
Release Date: Mon 2nd May
Things have been pretty quiet on the release front for Desto since the release of the brilliant ‘Disappearing Reappearing Ink’ 12” for Ramp last year. With only a couple of new tracks surfacing on Noppa Recordings in that time (to my knowledge) I have been waiting for a possible follow-up on Ramp to match what was one of the most individualistic and affecting dancefloor tracks I had heard in a long time. Thankfully he now finally makes the return to Ramp with an impressive new EP to sate that thirst.
In some ways picking up where he left off with ‘Disappearing Reappearing Ink’, these tracks retain the same understated percussive shuffles, icy melodies and expansive arrangements, but this time taking a more spacious, dubbed out approach that shines a new light on them.
The clipped snares and slinky hi-hats dictate the mesmeric self-perpetuating groove on title track ‘Glass Clouds’ as the drum line tumbles back in on itself, threatening to dissipate at any moment and leave the track floating in mid air. This delicacy is juxtaposed perfectly by the robust burrowing bassline that sits beneath, which lurches forward in an attempt to keep up with the drums and provides a low end warmth to the eerie glacial synths that lope through the top half of the track lighting its way through the dark.
On ‘Stay Strong’ the smooth but firm pulse of the bass buoys the skittering percussion along, which skims nimbly off its surface. These sparse rhythmic foundations allow the glimmering melodies to wind their way around each other, drifting freely through the track’s atmosphere. Giving each element ample space to breathe, the track has an immersive quality that is reminiscent of the meditational bassweight of early DMZ tracks.
Fellow Finnish producer Late provides a brilliant remix of ‘Stay Strong’ to round off the EP, rebuilding it around a staggering off-kilter swagger. Using the stumbling rhythm as a counterpoint off which the synths can bounce, he injects an extra sense of drama into the swelling melodies and disembodied vocals which jolt as if gasping for air.
Well worth the wait.