Youthman(29) - Untitled (2019)

Back after contributing a track to TPG's inaugural VA 'Press By The Group' last year, Youthman(29) breaks 2019 in with his much anticipated debut solo EP. Comprised of seven cuts that yo-yo between revamped breaksy house tropes, sample-heavy intricacies and lo-lidded ethereality, 'Untitled' maintains a fine balance between danceability and daydreaming, holding its listener in a hazed-out hypnagogic state of body-&-mind symbiosis that's best suited for moments of transition and sense-awakening, when the lights begin to flicker and the club seems to fold up in a strange, otherworldly halo of sorts.
Lax and chill for when the tempo slows down and gravity seems to be a vague souvenir, '5:03' and '6:32' exude the kind of misty summery flavours that entice just as much from a distance as they enthrall when lost amidst their thick shroud of acidic volutes and blurred-out electronics. Fusing a sturdy, laser-precise machine funk with submerging pad motifs and shimmering harmonics out the fuzziest dream, this is music that speaks to the conscious and the subconscious all at once.
Interspersed with rousing jungle amen-ities and old-school rave vox hooks, '6:34' steps up one notch further into club functionality whilst keeping a foot into faded dreamlands, as '5:08' delves in prime Josh Wink-ian 303 lines and muscular buildup alike to keep the dancefloor boiling. After a spacious, mind-expanding 3-minute ambient interlude, purebred jacking DJ tool '2:36' tops it all off on a friskier, more pragmatic note, but it's that lasting deep blue/oneiric feel that gives Youthman(29)'s sound its uniquely immersive, poetic swagger.