ouroboros

in full bloom

Racine uses sound to transcend the contemporary hellscape. Far from indulging in purely hedonistic escapism or nihilistic detachment, the celebrated Canadian producer confronts difficult emotions head-on, embracing tension and turbulence. Each release reformulates uncertainty into haunted soundscapes bristling with detail, weaving fractured samples, mutant melodies and glacial electronics into a hyper-real reflection of modern living. New two-track single Delirium focuses those same future-seeking sonics into Racine’s most direct – not to mention surprising – work to date.

Side A coalesces the producer’s amorphous electronics into a crystalline dancefloor workout. Soaring vocals clipped from a New Age radio broadcast glide atop ruffneck drums, with noctilucent synth pads and fizzing ambience seeping in through the cracks. Racine’s signature sense of unease and melancholy is still very much present, though here lurking in the track’s low-end and on the periphery; an overwhelming endorphin rush threatening to tip into amphetamine anxiety at any moment. Side B explodes outwards from that same sound palette, dancefloor hooks atomised into formless textures, eschewing melody and rhythm as it reaches toward even more ecstatic heights.

Delirium provides an exhilarating expansion of Racine’s soundworld, demonstrating his prowess as a producer even while moving into new contexts, and speaking to a distinct need for ecstatic release and transcendence.

Mastering by James Ginzburg
Artwork by Niels Wehrspann

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