- Prepare to commit the name Najem Sworb to memory. That's Sworb, with a "b"—as in brain-bending, bruised, blue, bleak, blissed-out, all fine descriptors for these two deep, ruminative tracks. The Strasbourg-based producer's previous work for the now defunct Ai Records was rooted in dub techno and IDM, whose influence can still be felt here, but this is the most distinctive, assured and immersive work that I have heard from him yet.
"Severance" sounds like it's been made in the mold of Conforce tracks like "Cruising" or "Grace," with a lyrical arpeggio shrouded in chord-swirl and tape saturation. Layered cymbals and hiss give the impression of a fine spring rain; chords come on slowly, fading in and out of earshot in a way that feels only tangentially related to the rhythmic grid, lending a pleasing sense of drift. It's all very ethereal, but it's anchored in the here and now by biting handclaps and dubbed-out snares. What makes it so effective is the way the textures and timbres mutate, their colors subtly changing with every flick of the filter.
"Leaves" follows a similar form; if anything, it's even denser, with a thicket of tangled rhythms—rattling woodblocks, triplet hi-hats, skippy syncopations—underpinning a soaring canopy of chords. Rustling and murmuring, crosscut by avian melodies and green as the leaves it's named after, it's forest techno at its most verdant.
Tracklist 01. Severence
02. Leaves