Nightwave – The Feel EP review

The artist formerly known as 8Bitch cuts loose her previous guise for good with this release for Svetlana Industries. Maya Medvesek had already been drawing some favourable notice with her electronica output for London institution Seed Records, but there’s an overwhelming feeling listening to this EP that things are about to get much bigger for the Slovenian.

The first two tracks in particular have a bold, anthemic quality that is both instantly accessible and satisfying. The production itself is weighty, with a rumbling bottom end and a healthy dose of dirt, as opening track “Feel” somehow manages to combine whistles, heavily arpeggiated synths and a shuddering techno beat with a blissful vocal snippet – the result is positively dripping with emotion. The optimistic, reach-for-the-skies feeling that “Night Bird” evokes comes chiefly from the bluesy keys and nagging vocal slices, with Medvesek again proving adept at laying down multiple hooks whilst keeping the arrangement uncluttered.

The rest of the EP serves as testament to this ability, not least on the short but sweet noodle “Bit Pony”. Cramming all the ideas for a tune into two minutes makes for a jaunty ride through up-to-the-minute bass music as made by someone with roots in the hard edged experimental electronics of Drexciya and Underground Resistance. Unknown To The Unknown (possibly more familiar as Hot City) gets stuck in for an abrasive remix of “Night Bird”. His recent singles show his new project to be aimed at grimy electro, but this remix pushes things even further into the red. It’s a little disjointed at times but when it finds a groove it slams hard, matching the overall chunkiness found elsewhere on the EP.

Oli Warwick