Crossover Network will release a brand new EP, ‘These Moments’, later this week. Have an exclusive first listen to the title track below.
Coming off the back of releases on Dalmata Daniel, Label in Disarray and Rotterdam Electronix, the Scotland-based hardware enthusiast returns to his own Pleasure Deficit imprint with a suite of tripped-out breakbeat burners. Across five tracks, the Lena Willikens-tipped producer swerves from rapturous, melodic techno to bass-boosted breaks, with pitstops in the acid-streaked electro of previous EPs, ‘Cultural Abyss’ and ‘Lose Your Delusion’.
Title track ‘These Moments’ artfully balances these floaty and hyperactive energies, folding its airy, circular pads and stargazing melodies into a charged-up breakbeat, whilst ‘Achromatic Rainbow’ captures that bittersweet end-of-the-rave feeling with bright rave stabs and pillowy synths. Elsewhere, cuts like ‘Let ’Em Play’ and ‘Rust’ are moodier and more muscular, as the producer continues to experiment with sound and hardware across the breakbeat continuum.
When he’s not innovating under his Crossover Network and E.L.I. aliases, Mike Smith co-operates Scotland’s Groovement event series, which he’s been doing since its inception over eight years ago. The beloved party series has become a cornerstone of the underground music scene in his hometown of Perth, bringing acts such as Or:la, DJ Bone, LNS, Radioactive Man and numerous others to the small waterside city.
‘These Moments’ is out tomorrow (2nd February 2024) via Pleasure Deficit. Pre-order the EP here, and have an exclusive first listen to the title track below.