Traces continue to fire on all cylinders this week, continuing a busy year for the rising duo. For their latest record, the pair debut on Albion Collective, one of the few Belgian labels making waves lately having featured the likes of Reso, Glume and most recently Lord Jabu. ALBION008 features two of Traces‘ characteristically weighty cuts as they pay their respects to the minimal origins of dubstep and sound-system music, whilst moving into more contemporary forward thinking areas.
On the A-side, ‘Adapt‘ brings mystical vibes with a breathy ambient flute lead over smooth yet weighty sub-bass pressure. Traces express their love for minimal structures by including only what’s necessary, particularly on the percussive sections, forming an understated yet striking production. On the flip Traces reach for east Asian influences with crisp koto strings, throwing themselves into traditional sounds of Japanese culture. Aptly named ‘Renshi’, the track has clear martial-art like dynamics in it’s sharp percussive patterns as the clean authentic strings are plucked over heavy 808’s that, as powerful as the kicks are, don’t blow out or dominate the mix as some tunes can fall victim to.
With ALBION008, Traces show their no nonsense approach to their productions. No unnecessary elements or dead weight, just pure weight. Still fresh in the game, they’re already wise enough to capture that perfect balance of expressing their own unique styles whilst giving the nod to the classic sounds of minimal sound-system focused 140, hence why they’re already finding themselves on labels of Albion Collective‘s stature.
ALBION008 is out this Friday (28th June) and available from the Albion Collective store.
Check out Traces on Soundcloud.
Check out Albion Collective on Soundcloud and Twitter.