After years of releasing some of the most heavily supported tracks among the DJ community, Australian trap music virtuoso Hydraulix has finally dropped the curtain on his debut album, the 20-track Imposter Syndrome LP.
Long revered for his approach to bass music production—in which he creates wonky trap music with a booty-shaking twist—Hydraulix looked inward to develop his debut album, the result of struggle with lockdown-induced insecurity. While largely rooted in the mind-bending bass spectrum of its label, Wakaan, the album enters pensive territory at times, dabbling in future bass and hip-hop.
"GOAT" and "System Malfunction" are two undeniable Imposter Syndrome standouts in an album of many. The former, which features gritty bars from British grime vet P Money, offers a mean blend of trap and retro hip-hop while the latter stomps along to a screeching drop that harkens to Hydraulix's transformative years at TWONK.
The Veronica Bravo-assisted "Wish I'd Never Met You," on the other hand, showcases the softer side of Hydraulix by way of a melancholic future pop arrangement. The same can be said of the album's closer "Another Minute," a broody hip-hop track featuring Muchi that explores its overarching theme of hopelessness in the face of ambition.