- Hugo Frederick's Plastic World debut is bright and beautifully arranged, with cheery yet meditative piano and synth loops. Though Skin is a dance record, I sense the Melbourne-based producer would identify more with Oneohtrix Point Never or CFCF than, say, fellow Australian Roland Tings, whose like-minded dayglo tones nevertheless peek through some of Frederick's work.
The graceful title track, layered with synths that shimmer like a lake at sunrise, begins as a rich and slightly aloof ambient piece. After a few minutes, it takes on a few house-y touches—a tart piano riff, steady hi-hats, a firm kick—but the timbres feel too formal, maybe too pretty, for most DJ sets. That's no bad thing—"Skin", among other parts of the EP, is quite stately, despite Frederick describing it as "cheesy."
At a push, that might also apply to an over-sugared vocal on "Remote," whose piano lead swells with reverb and feels a bit soggy as a result. The rest of Skin is better. The ambient swirls of "Slipped" revisit "Skin"'s utopian mood and thread "Remote"'s prettier moments through it. Frederick's luminous piano returns on the bucolic "Hexagonia" alongside finger-drummed rhythms and spindly synth arpeggios, which scramble like a spider across the floor. It comes closest to nailing what Skin aspires to: being a dance record with the stillness and beauty of a distant landscape.
TracklistA1 Skin
A2 Remote
B1 Stripped
B2 Hexagonia