- Hyper Flux is Herva's fourth full-length and, for the first time, it expands on the ideas of a preceding album. Before signing to Planet Mu, the Italian artist—whose music is a blend of hip-hop and IDM—had jumped from label to label with a sound to match that instability. These records barely related to one another, but Kila was a turning point. There was a clear artist's signature, which helped put the rest of his catalogue into context. On Hyper Flux, Herva consolidates that signature.
Herva deploys a wide range of sound sources on his tracks, which are often hazy, dreamy and gaseous. His music combines warm tones with grungy basslines, a combination that can be heard on "Jitter" and "Lly Spirals." Experimentation and intuition drive his working method. He likes to "mess with things"—Hyper Flux tinkers with hardware, instruments and homemade noise makers, as though we were in the workshop alongside him. "Rule The Sun" feeds a grainy ambient recording through one such machine, its circuits chewing up the composition.
If the record has an underlying narrative, it's the musical interplay between man and technology. "Meta Wave"'s organic guitar drones, for example, swell to fill the space around its machine chatter. This theme is more poignant on "Dedicated," where swooning vocals and resonant pianos are disrupted by what could be a tape being played backwards, with raw, buzzing noise at either end.
There's a lot of interesting work on Hyper Flux, but it's missing standout tracks. There's no instantaneous bang to match "Slam The Laptop," from 2014's Instant Broadcast. The absence of the snarl of "Kila" and the syrupy simplicity of "She Plays Tricks On Me," from his Meanwhile In Madland LP, is also felt. Hyper Flux is one of Herva's most cohesive albums, but that's come at a price. Since some of his appeal is based on a capacity to surprise, the lack of them on Hyper Flux is a little disappointing. But if you're a fan of Herva's recent work, his latest album is a chance to explore it further.
Tracklist01. Esotic Energy
02. Jitter
03. Nasty MF
04. Rule The Sun
05. Multicone
06. Lly Spirals
07. Solar Xub
08. Meta Wave
09. Cops Twerk
10. Peach
11. Dedicated feat. Mar G
12. Zykmed