December: 7 bass & club music releases you need to hear this month

Abyss X 'Mouthed Halcyon Veil' (Spooky Mediterranean)

Halcyon Veil’s influence on club music today is not to be underestimated. Eric Burton (who produces as Rabit) and his label have developed a discordant strain of sounds that combine to thoroughly recontextualise conventional electronic and noise tropes. It’s fitting, then, that it would sign Cretan-born, New York-based experimental producer Abyss X for its latest release. ‘Mouthed’ takes musical themes from the artist’s Minoan heritage and reworks them into collages of hazy, high-stakes compositions, replete with mandolins, choral samples and sweeping sonic crescendos. In contrast to her debut EP, which came out last fall on Extasis, this record finds Abyss X taking more overt risks production-wise, showcasing the versatility of her range. The risks pay off, though, and the sinister moods subtly alluded to on ‘Echoes’ are fully developed here. The air is murky and humming, the light is dim and you’re deliciously enveloped by the trembling emotion contained within the record’s five tracks.

8/10