Space Discovery: Reue
Welcome to our new Space Discovery!
This time we travelled all the way to Austin, Tx. to find Reue (pronounced “Roi-uh”), an underground electronic music artist who collaborated with Colombian artist Synthemesc on “Always Late”, a track mixing techno with a bit of house and electronic music.
The percussive beat jumps straight into your ears at a pressing four-on-the-floor rhythm, reminiscent of the early 90s house sound. The start is very clubby, and different elements get gradually added to the bassline, while white noise sweeps up like a waft of wind on a stormy day, brushing against the walls of the beat and adding volume to the whole, and then sweeps down to come back later, more intense.
It rises and rises, until it leaves space to an ascending synth bass, with saw pads in the background bringing an ethereal flavour to the almost chiptune melody. It sounds like a race against time – maybe that’s why “Always Late” – with its up and downs, the expectant feeling it gives when it seems like it’s almost done, about to get out of the door, but it comes back again as it forgot something, a sound, or a melody to add before it leaves.
A slightly acid riser makes the melody feel ever more urgent, until the bass drops again.
Glossy risers and downers follow each other in this composition of climaxes, until a squeakier riser preannounces a drop mid-song, which arrives gently, reacquiring the initial rhythm, deep and steady, with the leading bass drum pumping.
The transitions are smooth and there are no harsh switches, which make this track very danceable, with its build-ups and drops rooted in the techno tradition.
Then the rhythm slightly accelerates, in a build-up towards the actual end this time, while another distorted riser leads the ascending path, to then disappear. The beat becomes syncopated, the riser turns into a downer and almost naturally ends with a reverb which makes this track hover in the air for a little bit more, still not ready to leave.
A hit for techno and electronic music lovers, “Always Late” is a delight for impatient legs which love to dance and curious ears which like to spot all layers of a sound and revel in them.
