Andrea - Due In Colour

Album

28 Mar

Since 2012 Andrea has been a mainstay in the Zenker brothers, Ilian Tape label. Ilian tape has long been a breath of fresh air to the German techno scene. The label's inception coincided with German dominance and the prevalence of more serious, hard-line expressions within the genre. Especially out of the capital, hyper-polished productions were becoming the norm as talented producers raced in pursuit of that perfect track. So the Zenker bros took the genre in a new direction, combining their love of NPC hip-hop, for lack of a better term and immortalised in the Ilian Beat Series (created 2021), and techno, they formed Ilian Tape in 2007. Since Ilian Tape's formation, Andrea has been pushing the label, and the two brothers are credited with producing some of the most prominent releases.

The natural progression from this NPC techno shifted the label into more breakbeat and abstract sample-based analogue sound. It always seemed Andrea was on the cutting edge of this progression. In hindsight, the blend of breakbeat and richly textured sounds would always end up as Due In Color (2023). A soft liquid drum and bass blend of the super dusty and degraded sound of tape, like the Disintegration Loops by Willian Basinski. Andreas Due In Colour, incorporating a live performance sound, takes the label to new stylistic places.

Suppose you're looking for a new imagining of the sounds of Squarepusher or others revolving around Warp records. In that case, Andrea has added that to their arsenal, combining these dusty-sounding drum samples and swinging the hell out of them in some cases. The track 'Jaim' relies on capitalising on the space between the beats. Andrea uses jazzy drum flourishes to add dynamic interest. With the track 'Audieze', the jazz aspects or the music come from the playing style in the percussion, relying on the dynamics of the kit. 'Audieze' swings the beats and uses 16th-note grooves to give a chilled-out feel. Andrea brings a sense of speed to the percussion that's almost neutralised by the slow glacial evolution of the pads. As 'Andieze' opens up, Andrea elaborates on the themes that play out over this project: momentum, the perception of speed and the passage of time. For instance, on the track 'Chessibo', the drums must squeeze past the richness of the textures in the foreground. This makes each drum hit punchy, and the tails almost instantly retreat into the textures. This is partly due to the dusty drum samples drenched in reverb and slightly filtered.

The one thing you can say about all these tracks is that they incorporate so much momentum. You constantly feel like you're zipping through the air at Mac 5. 'Ress' exemplifies this idea with its rolling bass that sits quite far back in the mix and follows bowed pads that feel so cinematic. Because of the delicacy, and warmth of their tone, it feels like the world is flying past us, yet it doesn't feel any faster than a walk on a warm evening. Contrastingly, the Lust In End (Drum Version) track flips everything. Andrea uses an old jungle technique of reversing samples, creating interesting new percussion. Placing these warping sounds on the left and right of the track draws us further into it. The melody is straightforward, contrasting the other elements' momentum with an unhurried bassline. Still, the absence of melodic content in favour of mood makes the track feel much cooler compared to 'Ress'.

Andrea mixes things up quite a bit over the album's runtime, and while all tracks sound cohesive, some express more influence from specific labels, periods, or artists. The IDM styling of some tracks instantly suggests the works of Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, and Flying Lotus. The incorporation of snappy off-kilter drums is indicative of these electronic innovators. The track 'Remote Working' adds glitches to Andrea's sonic pallet, another nod? Water droplets are glitched and transform into percussive hits. This adds texture to the rhythms as a lackadaisical bassline that seems to swing from side to side.

Similarly, the track 'Silent Now' uses iconic motifs, the bassline is funky yet very robotic, and the glitching aesthetic also appears. One thing of note when it comes to 'Silent Now' is that there's a detachment between the drum's bass and pads/ melodies. They act independently from each other in a compelling way. The pads work with the drums but not the bass and the bass works with the drums but not the pads. These counterpoints make the most vital part of the compositions the occasions when harmony and balance are achieved.

Andrea has an affinity for UK ambient and electronic music in some capacity because the tracks 'Sephr' and 'Dove Mai' feel like they could have been produced in Bristol or Manchester. Although there are constant nods to UK-centric music like grime and dubstep, 'Sephr' takes on the clubbier sounds with a futuristic dubstep vibe, relying on the higher frequency content to drive the track and sub-bass providing the groove. It's a steppa with a keen ear for subtle risers and mid-drops. The vocal chop is vital to 'Sephr' along with the half-time drums and recluse use of melody. 'Sephr' has footwork styling because of pitched-down vocals, the space created around the clap, and the heavy use of a 2-step groove. 'Dove Mai' takes things slower, keeping the music more in line with the post-club theme of Space Afrika. The vocal sounds like the unholy echo of a person down a dark inner-city alley. It works well to put me in that rainy city, walking around at night, puddles reflecting the yellow haze of streetlights. The crackling of vintage effects is bolstered by the muffled sound of rain surrounding you. Like a lucid dream, you wake after the night before. The whispers of the event are still fresh in your mind, interlaced with the floating waves in and out of consciousness.

Credited on the album is Gabriele Braga, who played and composed the piano on all but one of the songs. Their influence can be heard clearly on the last three tracks on the album 'Hazymo', 'Am Der' and 'Return_Lei'. The drums of 'Hazymo' sounds straight off an old beat tape, a dusty hip-hop track dug out of your uncle's old collection. It's played at half speed because you're new to record players, but it doesn't sound off. As the record spins, you'll see these whisps coming off the top of the record in a vortex rising to the top of the room. This beautiful instrumental floats up in the smoke. 'Am Der' has a beautiful piano rendition, augmented by a litany of tape-based effects such as time stretching. It then opens into this chilled downtempo beat that lets the piano breathe. Gabriele Braga has done wonders on this track, allowing some of the care and delicacy heard on 'Ress'. Sparkling arpeggios and great knowledge of dynamics elevate the song. 'Return_Lei' closes out Due In Color with a sonic bath of dreary synths floating like a breeze across a meadow. Andrea experimented by returning to the ambience of the start of the album. A rolling bass brings us up and down like the waves of the sea.

Tracklist: