Caen-based producer Jean-Charles Savary returns to Stripped Digital, following up an EP and an excellent remix of Ezequiel Marotte for the label last year. His ‘In Fire’ EP sees him offer up two new originals, ‘In Fire’ and ‘Moonchild RW’, each with its own techno flavour.
The title track kicks off with a minimalistic bassline and fierce hi-hats, but it soon adds a gently chiming background and a nasty, twisted baseline. Building towards the breakdown, suspenseful pads and richer percussion are thrown in too, leading to the discordant two-tone main hook. The breakdown takes the hook in a darker, more minor direction, and when the beat reestablishes itself, the track is topped with a wavering, piercing held note. Unfortunately, despite some well realised ideas, this track just didn’t appeal to me – the melodies and sounds just aren’t sweet enough for my taste.
Much more my cup of tea is the flip side, ‘Moonchild RW’. This is probably best described as melodic techno, but with a dark, gothic edge to it not typical of tracks in this style. There’s a great bite to the track from the get-go, and Jean-Charles Savary soon drenches it in moody organs and lets the percussion gain momentum. A rippling take on the main melody soon emerges, giving a hazy, shimmering feel to the track which runs into the breakdown, where the organ looms large once more. There’s a lovely slow-motion moment as the track picks back up again, due to some clever play with the main synth line. The track quickly gains steam again with some zippy hi-hats and a bassline energetically mirroring the main melody, and setting up a final outing for the organ. My only complaint here is that the handclap oddly drops out almost as soon as it appears, leaving much of the climactic portion of the track missing it. Still, that’s a quibble with a really exciting piece of work.
Try as I might, ‘In Fire’ remains a bit of miss for me, though it’s definitely worth checking out for yourself . The real winner here for my money is ‘Moonchild RW’ – this is great work again from Jean-Charles Savary. 7.5/10
