Recondite – ‘Think Twice’ EP [Life & Death]

Pouring out from a fantastic year in 2014, DJ Tennis’s superb label Life & Death continues to plough through 2015 like Taylor Swift does celebrity lovers.

This time round it’s techno welter-weight Recondite with the two track Think Twice EP. L&D has some prestigious clubbing talent on its’ roster, including Tale of Us and Mind Against, plus a collection of chart topping releases, with Recondite having played several shows for them and providing a stellar remix on Mind Against’s Strange Days, perhaps it was natural selection to bring him in for his debut release on the label. Recondite himself has previously gained success with Hotflush, Innervisions and Ghostly, not to mention he was named Resident Advisor’s top live act of 2014 – all of which you’d say was a recipe for success… but how did it shape up?

Think Twice, which is the first cut off of the EP, is a steady breather. Built up slowly through claps, vibrant synths and reverberating bass, plausibly a start of set track to drop, the pace isn’t your peak-time techno but it does nod heads and shuffle feet. Recondite adds plenty of layers to his production values, which he then brings into his live performances, Think Twice is no exception to this for sure, and is reminiscent of his more ambient production on the album Hinterland… a nicely crafted piece to the puzzle, but in some circumstances it isn’t really pushing far beyond his signature sound.

Arguably however, there isn’t much need to when you think about it. The EP finishes on Serak, a beautifully sonic and enticing piece of new wave trance with a deep crushing tempo… and despite Recondite producing this very stuff for years, people are only just moving on to these sounds now, and this track is proving to be the internet’s favourite off of the release.

With a new love of a different breed of trance growing, and it having started streaming through the underground with some appealing releases, and definite influence on the scene by his Life & Death label mates, not forgetting the work that record labels like Steyoyoke and Kompakt have done for a while too… without a doubt you will be hearing more and more of this throughout 2015 and beyond. It seems Recondite and L&D are the ones to start making headway on it as the demand increases, and they both supply more than Starbucks fills teens up with frappuccinos – harsh? Probably not.

The Think Twice EP is out now and you can get it here.

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