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Khen – Sweet Break Up (Sudbeat)

Khen is back on Sudbeat, following up his own tracks ‘Haziness’ and ‘Sense of Time’, as well as his much-loved collaboration with Guy Mantzur, ‘Moments Becoming Endless Time’

The title track will already be familiar to most as one of the standouts of label-boss Hernan Cattaneo’s recent ‘Balance 026’ compilation. I can’t help but be reminded of AMbassador’s ‘The Fade’ by its catchy main hook, and the key changes work an absolute treat. ‘Unexpected Landing’ has less well-development musical ideas, but it’s hard to care, since the motoring bassline and cleverly-programmed chattering hi-hats make this an absolute powerhouse of a record anyway. ‘Walking Into Myself’ is hypnotic yet groovy, with heavy stabs, atmospheric pads and subtle, glassy melodies nicely complementing the awesome bass work. ‘Another Way’ follows a similar recipe but to even better effect, boasting more compelling bass ideas in eight minutes than some producers have in their entire career, while the plucked, drifting melodies create a fantastically dreamy vibe. Finally, ‘Anise’ closes things out, with its delicate chiming melodies gradually giving way to a beautiful, shimming fuzz, as the bass relentlessly carries those spine-tingling chord changes.

This is a truly terrific EP from Khen and the Sudbeat crew. ‘Anise’ was the track that first caught my attention, but it’s ‘Another Way’ that has most captured my imagination after repeated listens. It hardly matters; Khen has served up wall-to-wall winners here. 8.5/10

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What do you think?

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