Think you know Factor B – Australia’s biggest genre breakout since goodness knows when? Well, yes, more than likely you do, but this month Factor’s Brendan Blatt is aiming to shake that reality up some. Under his freshly-minted Highlandr moniker, he’s been striking out along some different production paths this year. Long known for spinning & music making at the more floor-forceful end of the spectrum, his new guise is allowing him the latitude to microscope more melodic and progressively focused sounds.
Expanding on this move, Brendan says: “it’s always been an aspiration of mine to bring to life an event/extended set experience that allows me to showcase my own productions from the beginning of the night to the end. Over the past eighteen months I’ve been experimenting in the studio with new sounds & ideas. These are aimed at creating a hybrid feel that carries the elements from my ‘Factor B’ sound, but into significantly lower paced material. This first EP is a showcase of just a few of the ideas that have been part of my sets over the past half year.”
Locking into its lower tempo position, EP opener ‘Particles motivates the breaks frontend before its drums transition to a 4/4 signature. Applying dawn-breaking, speaker-shuttling harmonies, it slowly but surely climbs up to its final act’s rapturously harmonic heights.
‘Are We Falling’ is initially centred on burring distortion bursts and a floor-affecting bass groove. Latterly its upper atmospheres – evocative steelpan drums, male vocal chants, fleeting piano and elegantly crafted melodies – fashion a proggier feel for it.
Feeding waveforms more angular in feel into the release’s profile, ‘Kingdom Burns’ ties the EP off by squaring edgier sub-melodies with warm bass bounce, choral harmonies and crystal-clean pad arrangements.
TRACKLIST
01 Factor B pres. Highlandr – Particles
02 Factor B pres. Highlandr – Are We Falling
03 Factor B pres. Highlandr – Kingdom Burns
Get your copy here: blackhole.complete.me/particles
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