Our favourite cosmic imprint, Space Cadets, returns for its seventh instalment with another cutting edge release from ASC, following a brief hiatus for the otherwise prolific producer.

We’ve come to know Space Cadets as a label characterized by their truly groundbreaking ethos, refusing to sit still and constantly moving forward, and this release has once again blown us out of the water with its futuristic outlook.

Dream of the Future is a bittersweet assault on the senses, a disorientating array of industrial sounds swirling round together in a whirlwind of astral machination. Despite the robotic militancy of the track, elements of raw emotion creep their way into the overpowering mayhem in the shape of reverb-drenched chords that render the track a mysterious wonder. This is pretty apocalyptic stuff, a lot closer to IDM than anything else, but another genuinely interesting direction from ASC.

Flood Tide Rising is a return to the ASC we know and love, albeit at a tempo we’re unfamiliar hearing him use. An atmospheric, meditative slice of futurism that fuses half beat drum patterning with double time percussion to bewildering effect, practically throwing out conventions of rhythmic arrangement. What makes this track so enchanting though is what ASC is so adept at, and that is creating a mood, a feeling, an ambience, which he then goes and totally subverts, thus throwing your original sentiment into some doubt. The woozy, ethereal melodies that lurk behind the percussion at times appear benevolent but similarly are never far away from the uncanny, brooding sense of malaise that persists throughout most of the track. It’s like an aural journey into the mind of Sigmund Freud.

But it’s Outflow that is without doubt the stand-out track of this multifarious EP. An ambient, slow-burner of beautifully sombre dub-tinged chords and sparse percussion, yet just over 3 and a half minutes long, it’s an absolute pleasure to listen to on repeat and calms the very soul. A stunning track that explores the depths of loneliness and solitude, and shows that sometimes, less really is more.

Another sterling release of the kind of calibre we’ve come to expect from Space Cadets.

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