SHXCXCHCXSH - DO
Reigning supreme as one of the trickiest artist names in dance music, SHXCXCHCXSH insists the name is more phonetic than it may appear. The Swedish duo is known for innovating the game so much so the term "organic techno" was essentially tailor-made for them. Still, their latest EP, DO, aims to treat new ground. The shift in artistic style has been slowly creeping into SHXCXCHCXSH's sound with the last album, Kongestion (2022), sounding more like a futuristic rave than the naturalistic and organic sounds the duo had initially started pushing with the now decade-old Linear S Decoded (2014). The signs that the duo was moving towards a more biomechanical sound with jetting glitches and industrial elements have been slowly squeezing their way into tracks. The DO EP fully unleashes more experiments conducted with a newfound focus on vocals, rhythm, and glitches, propelling SHXCXCHCXSH into a new production era.
While SHXCXCHCXSH's production has elevated over the last couple of years, the unfortunate truth of DO is that a lot of its vocals fall flat. Honestly, the rhythmic chorus of "DO" doesn't do much for me. SHXCXCHCXSH is famed for bringing organic textures into electronic music, but the vocals have a static cut-and-paste quality devoid of humanity. They seem to lack vibrancy and energy, which is a shame as the music underneath is still the same quality as previous albums. Nonetheless, the glitches and rhythms and the more industrial-inspired production add a new level of aggression and darkness, transforming these left-field club weapons into something incredibly exciting and malleable. SHXCXCHCXSH showcases pulse-pounding industrialised kick drums that batter away without relinquishing on 'DO 2' and its half-time, IDM-inspired crackling brakes with 'DO 3'. On the other hand, SHXCXCHCXSH wrestles more atmosphere out of 'DO 1' and 'DO 4' and showcases that biomechanical style the duo find themselves more attracted to.
While SHXCXCHCXSH's forte has never been a fast-paced rhythmic assault, DO aims to open the artists to a new sound pallet and increase atmospheric variety. Although they haven't quite nailed it yet, this latest EP shows promise. A bit more dimension and movement in the leads could have drastically changed this release for the better. However, this leaves me optimistic for future vocal experiments from SHXCXCHCXSH. Their continual pushing of aesthetics has been one of the most exciting things in techno for the past ten years, and we look forward to their future releases.
Tracklist:
DO 1
DO 2
DO 3
DO 4
Label: Rösten (2024)
SHXCXCHCXSH - DO
