Alis - Sai

  • Share
  • If Sabina Plamenova's work as Subeena was hard to pin down, her music as Alis isn't much more clear-cut. The name change happened around 2012, and while her sound has partly streamlined—shedding bass weight, for instance—it has expanded in other directions, veering into airy pop or more extreme experimentation. With only two tracks, Plamenova's first outing on Infinite Machine sticks to a consistent aesthetic. "Sai" and "Strong" are intriguing pop tracks that still lean towards the club—the latter even has lyrics in verse and chorus. Her voice is central to the EP, especially in "Sai"'s emotive layers and "Strong"'s reverb-drenched croons. While each track has a savvy rhythm—"Sai" has a broken-beat lurch while "Strong" has a gentle 4/4 pulse—it feels like the percussion is just there to keep the song in motion. It gives the melodies heft and a mantric energy, but it stops short of having a commanding dance floor presence. It feels as though Plamenova's sound is still in flux.
  • Tracklist
      01. Sai 02. Strong
RA