- Cosmic Balearica with a light touch.
- Space Dimension Controller has always made music true to his name: cosmic, futuristic cuts that transport the listener to a galaxy far, far away. Jack Hamill also has a remarkable talent for making tracks that are distinctly his own, yet consistently varied—it's as if he's been training some SDC AI to make endlessly new iterations of his sound all this time. He's done it again on his latest EP, Neuclidea, which is also his first for Running Back. This release sees Hamill realising a dream he's held for "well over a decade" after meeting Gerd Janson as an "annoyingly enthusiastic stoned 19-year-old obsessed with Break Machine and Paul Hardcastle," according to an endearing Instagram post.
Hamill's productions are so idiosyncratic that they can almost jar on labels with strong personalities—like Running Back—but the tracks on Neuclidea, infused with warmth and light, play to the imprint's Balearic leanings. High-pitched, reverb-soaked synths pierce through the hazy sigh of pads on the title track. It seems primed for that small window of time between 4 AM and sunrise, mimicking the effect of an ecstasy afterglow, while "Life Window" comes off as its delightfully wobbly sibling.
The balmiest cut on the EP, "Sunset Operator," feels like mainlining bliss, its billowy, light-filled pads sieging the pleasure centres, while the snapping kick and skippy snares compel the feet to dance. Hodge's pounding remix of the title track, meanwhile, turns the original into an eyes-down thumper. It's cathartic where the rest of Neuclidea is reflective, more industrial than Ibizan. It matches the rest of the EP in quality, though, rounding out another impeccable release from the persistently reliable Space Dimension Controller.
Tracklist01. Neuclidea
02. Life Window
03. Sunset Operator
04. Nuclidea (Hodge Remix)