Sub Focus reaches right into a stratosphere properly past the dancefloor on Contact, a 14-track album formed round humanity’s long-standing urge to ship messages into the unknown.
Influenced by the Voyager mission and the Golden File, the drum & bass celebrity constructed a physique of labor that feels expansive however nonetheless tightly engineered, connecting calls into the void along with his signature sound. Throughout his fourth album, he builds a universe that pushes drum & bass right into a wider constellation of sounds, arriving as certainly one of his most cohesive and impressive initiatives thus far.
Contact, he stated, is an ode to the drum & bass style.
“I’m actually pleased with this one,” Sub Focus wrote in a social media put up. “Drum & Bass is in such impolite well being proper now – and I wished to make a full size all concerning the style this time round.”
Contact opens with “Ecuador,” an unexpectedly brilliant minimize with Fireboy DML. The lyric “I’m in outer house, not right here anymore” serves as a transparent launch pad for the album’s idea, a quick and agile introduction that units the tone for the journey forward.
“So Many Colors” follows as Poppy Baskcomb’s voice climbs over a luminous development, pushed ahead by a pulsing low finish. “Unique Don” then marks the primary actual plunge into darker terrain. Fireboy DML and Irah steer the observe with sharp vocal phrasing whereas Sub Focus builds a dense, heavy basis beneath. It’s a observe clearly constructed for large techniques, the type meant to shake a pageant stage.
“Elevate” then arrives as a launch valve, touchdown with a lighter contact and a refrain meant for feel-good crowd moments. The power continues to be excessive, however the observe presents sufficient elevate to interrupt up the album’s early depth.
That distinction makes “Entwined” hit even more durable. The high-profile collaboration with Grimes shifts the album’s cosmic theme into clearer focus. Her voice drifts in like a sign reducing via static earlier than the manufacturing accelerates, shifting into one thing colder and echoing the album’s fascination with house and the unknown.
“On & On” brings in bbyclose, who leans right into a shiny vocal tone over rapid-fire manufacturing that by no means loses its grip. Sub Focus punctuates the association with transient reprieves that allow her voice breathe for a second earlier than snapping the tempo again into movement. It’s one of many album’s standouts and one of many yr’s greatest drum & bass information.
“Go Again,” launched final yr alongside John Summit and Julia Church, stays the album’s clearest crossover second. Summit’s home roots form the primary half earlier than Sub Focus pulls the observe right into a drum & bass sequence that feels each weightless and easy. Church’s vocal carries the emotional weight, and the tempo shift stays one of many collaboration’s strongest components.
“Water & Hearth” with Connie Constance shifts right into a extra atmospheric house, opening with ethereal vocals earlier than the drums take form. The manufacturing sparkles with delicate particulars that preserve every little thing in movement with out overcrowding the association. “Misplaced in Heaven,” the album’s sole downtempo second, provides Emily Makis room to stretch right into a smoother, softer supply. It capabilities because the album’s breath earlier than the ultimate climb.
“Push the Tempo” and “Let Your Physique Rock” reignite the power, the previous touchdown as a club-minded minimize with sharp phrasing from Katy B and the latter performing as a full-throttle dash designed for the massive levels Sub Focus now instructions.
“Wildfire” brings one of many strongest vocal performances on the album, with Jo Hill reducing via the manufacturing’s tightly wound power earlier than the album closes by advantage of “Fade,” an atmospheric observe that swells slowly earlier than erupting right into a rush of frenetic drums. Inéz’s voice grows from restrained to totally launched, pulling the album right into a remaining emotional peak earlier than the power burns off.
You may take heed to Contact under and discover the brand new album on streaming platforms right here.
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