Sub Focus reaches right into a stratosphere effectively 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 famous person 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 tasks so far.
Contact, he mentioned, 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 reduce with Fireboy DML. The lyric “I’m in outer area, 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. “Authentic 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 methods, the sort meant to shake a competition stage.
“Elevate” then arrives as a launch valve, touchdown with a lighter contact and a refrain meant for feel-good crowd moments. The vitality 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 slicing by way of static earlier than the manufacturing accelerates, shifting into one thing colder and echoing the album’s fascination with area 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 12 months’s greatest drum & bass information.
“Go Again,” launched final 12 months 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 area, opening with ethereal vocals earlier than the drums take form. The manufacturing glints with delicate particulars that hold every part in movement with out overcrowding the association. “Misplaced in Heaven,” the album’s sole downtempo second, offers Emily Makis room to stretch right into a smoother, softer supply. It features because the album’s breath earlier than the ultimate climb.
“Push the Tempo” and “Let Your Physique Rock” reignite the vitality, the previous touchdown as a club-minded reduce with sharp phrasing from Katy B and the latter performing as a full-throttle dash designed for the large levels Sub Focus now instructions.
“Wildfire” brings one of many strongest vocal performances on the album, with Jo Hill slicing by way of the manufacturing’s tightly wound vitality 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 completely launched, pulling the album right into a closing emotional peak earlier than the vitality burns off.
You possibly can take heed to Contact beneath and discover the brand new album on streaming platforms right here.
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