Spin En Etau and you could be forgiven for checking the calendar. This is IDM as it sounded in 2002, back when the music was a lifestyle, a frame of mind and a way of reasoning, with the genre tag coming somewhere after the fact. Analept carries that outlook into three melodic pieces wrapped in a tidy EP for EC Underground, each track soaked in the kind of sunlit nostalgia that once made this music feel like a world unto itself.
The opener gets there from the beginning. Gorgeous synth keys circle a dusty three-chord pattern whose simplicity is part of its charm, and over time the melody gathers complementary notes and small flourishes while a plaintive lead synth traces short, tidy runs above it. A deep bass synth with a modulated filter provides necessary low frequency support and a mild melancholy tint hangs over “Medisun 2800”, adding colour without tipping into full-on anemoia.
The mood lifts from there. A voice-like synth bends single notes downward to open the piece, while a handful of strange, modulated digital drums drift in sparsely, setting up a slow melodic and rhythmic lead-in. The percussion gradually accumulates. Snippets of distorted human voice, glitches and subdued metallic foley hits handle most of the hi-hat and cymbal duties in “Nosil”, though an occasional real hi-hat or cymbal appears deep in the mix. These textures are often busier than the melody or bassline, yet nothing about them feels aggressive. Above them, a soft, luminous melody unfolds at its own pace, floating more freely than anything on the opener. The chord progression beneath it carries the sort of understated warmth that IDM at its best has always excelled at delivering.
The closer opens with a strange synth lead, single notes soaked in metallic effects and reverb, repeating insistently until classic clicky, glitchy, repeat-rich IDM drums emerge around them. Then the chords arrive. In “Tietze Syndrome”, the pads refuse to remain in the background. They occupy the foreground instead, warm, radiant and unmistakably analogue in character. When the metallic lead from the introduction returns, its odd timbre gives those glowing harmonies something to push against. The arrangement remains uncluttered throughout, neither minimal nor overly busy, allowing the melodic core of the track to shine clearly through the modulation, glitches and hyper-rhythmic detail. It is a piece that captures exactly why this style of electronic music still resonates in our hearts today.
The percussion across the EP is pure IDM in spirit: FM synth clicks, bleeps, glitches and short bursts of texture stand in for traditional hi-hats and cymbals, and nearly all of it follows the harmonic movement of the tracks. Complexity is everywhere, but it never exists for its own sake. This is the classic ’02 attitude in miniature: intricate by design, yet always in service of the tune.
Three tracks make for a brief visit, and En Etau leaves before its charm can begin to fade. This record does more than just show its fidelity to an era (though there is plenty of that here). Analept recaptures a particular philosophy of electronic music: intricate without showing off, sophisticated without becoming cold, and always guided by melody. For listeners who remember when IDM felt less like a genre than a way of approaching music and engaging with sound itself, this will feel less like a welcome revival.
Written by Jonathan Bishop. Jonathan is a writer, and the Editor and Founder of ChoonReview. His engagement with electronic music began in the late 1980s through early industrial acts such as Skinny Puppy, Coil and Ministry, and that interest soon spread into other styles such as Plunderphonics (John Oswald, Negativland, Stock, Hausen & Walkman et al). When IDM exploded onto the scene in the early 1990s, he became utterly immersed in it and that devotion has stayed with him ever since. Today Jonathan works as an engineer and sound designer, with Bitwig Studio as his primary creation platform. The hands-on knowledge of sound design and production that comes with that work shapes how he listens to and writes about the releases that reach ChoonReview.
En Etau by Analept releases 20th of November exclusively on EC Undergound
