Manualโs latest release sees the label welcome back Franceโs Eggo, following up his โThe Valley/Respireโ release on the label a couple of years ago with a short but musically diverse four-track EP.
โPreludeโ starts out as a moody, dreamy ambient piece, but it quickly morphs into a techno track with metallic percussion and a buzzing bassline. Sadly thereโs not much development of the track after the beat makes its appearance, and it seems mostly designed to function as a short set-intro.
โSeabornโ sees Eggo steer us into more solid melodic techno territory, with impressive bass tones guiding the way, topped with an urgent melody that emerges gradually during the first breakdown, intensifying into acidic flourishes before the track empties aside from a kickdrum and a sweeter, more abstract melody. The bassline reappears, working really well with the melody, before the track drops into silence, then soars, releasing all of its elements simultaneously for a surprisingly uplifting climax.
โEarly Daysโ is very different, having both a housier and a more experimental flavour. The centrepiece is the simple piano line, which Eggo supports with a funky bassline, skipping percussion, and spacey sweeps. The one point of similarity with โSeabornโ is that it too boasts a really terrific final sequence, which sees the track become something far greater than the sum of its parts, packing considerable emotional punch in the process. This isnโt going to be to everyoneโs taste, but for the right listeners and the right dancefloors, this will be a real treat.
The final track returns us to the melancholy electronica of the EPs intro, with โGoodbyeโ, which sees haunting pads soon joined by a churning, acidic bassline and a simple downtempo beat. There are some quite lovely sounds involved here, but as with โPreludeโ, I didnโt feel like there was enough development even given itโs short running time.
Overall, itโs hard not to feel like the first and last tracks should beย the starting and ending points of a much longer piece of work; itโs somewhat odd to find them bookending just two fairly short tracks, as they do here. On the other hand, the two tracks in question are some of Eggo’s best work so far, with โSeabornโ appealing to me very slightly more than โEarly Daysโ โ but itโs really a close run thing.ย 8/10
