The snare on “Another World” has a crack to it that I keep rewinding just to hear again, a sharp, slightly metallic snap that cuts clean through everything around it. Loboski and Elipsa have made a dnb track built for movement first and mood second, but the mood sneaks up on you anyway. It opens gentle, a soft vocal and a few airy synth chords, the sort of intro that makes you think you’re in for something purely pretty. Then the drums arrive and the whole picture snaps into focus, the tempo doubling the energy without ever feeling frantic. What I love is how melodic they keep it while the low end does genuinely heavy work underneath. There’s a bassline down there with real growl, but it never bullies the vocal or the chords out of the way, everyone sharing the space rather than fighting for it. The two producers clearly push each other, because this is tighter and more ambitious than either tends to sound alone. The second drop introduces a detuned lead that wobbles just enough to add grit, and it’s the moment the track stops being merely nice and starts being memorable. Monstercat puts out a lot of this melodic-dnb-with-a-vocal formula and plenty of it blurs together into pleasant sameness, but this one has enough personality in the details to stick. I’ve been humming the topline for an hour. That’s usually the sign.
More Loboski & Elipsa? Always. Previously: Sudley, Loboski, ShockOne & Hanne Mjøen - Terminal