"This new Martyn track 'Hello Darkness' sounds great until the synths come in and it turns into a Fruity Loops demo," tweeted RA's Andrew Ryce a little while back. "He's probably exaggerating," I thought, as I popped the track on for myself the next day. Things start out promisingly enough, with a tenebrous mid-range swaying back and forth over solid garage percs. But then it appears; a tinny church organ which recalls only the cheapest of presets. As with last year's "We Are You in the Future," it sounds like a tribute to rave, though here there's no smart chord progression or thrilling climax; just a sequence which sinks slowly back into the gloom, only to reappear later on.
The two remixes fare better. The beatless but charged remake of "Bauplan" by L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok presents something far more erratic. It's a mess of samples, variously featuring laboured breathing, guns cocking and big, sinister swoops. The original's sprightly arpeggios lurk audibly beneath all this, only coming to bear fully in the final minute. Redshape's remix of "We Are You in the Future" nods definitively to Carl Craig. Its progression feels patient and somewhat random, but deftly skips away from noodliness. Here Martyn's (lovely) excesses have been reined in, resulting in a rather more docile trip. Balancing this, however, are the sinister sci-fi samples which bookend the track: "It may be an accidental side effect of the drug."
Buy Martyn - Hello Darkness at
  
Tracklist: Martyn - Hello Darkness
 A1 Hello Darkness
A2 Bauplan (L-Vis 1990 & Bok Bok Remix)
B We Are You In The Future (Redshape Remix)
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