Ilana Bryne

US midwestern gem Ilana Bryne is back on the label and, once again, she's got you covered for grade "A" contemplative-but-propulsive groovers, perfectly timed for these trying days. Like her debut EP "Low Earth Orbit" from last year, "Strange Adventure" layers sharp rhythms and playful touches with ethereal atmospheres and open spatiality. But stagnating she is not; her pristine production turned even brighter on this one, reaching a level of sonic and compositional finesse that has to be heard to be believed. Staying away from unnecessary flourishes and keeping with an elegant but raw Chicago deep-house sensibility, tracks like "Exclusive Shit Holds No Weight" or "Theoretical Medical Genitals" sound like antidotes to any entropic mental states floating around; every sound in its rightful place, beautifully treated, inspiredly pieced together.

Profound musical influences come through in the mix in a big way through echoes of chicagoans like Glenn Underground, Gemini and Boo Williams, tempered to perfection with the floaty atmospherics and chopped breaks of LTJ Bukem and other masters of liquid dnb. Delicate synth sequences ilustrate loving dialogues between bassbin-busting subs and suspended rhodes chords or airy pads, travelling through dynamic arrangements, with the odd moment of suspense done fresh.

On the remix, none other than one of the finest to ever do it, Russell E L Butler. Bringing their rarely matched control of the modular to "Theoretical Medical Genitals", Russell infuses the circuits with pure aural love and sends the track further up in the air through minimal broken rhythms and celestial subby bass hums. This release might just be perfect.