Blue Hour - Flow State EP

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  • As Furesshu and Esoteric, Luke Standing was making moody techno in the UK before it was the cool thing to do. But for some reason the Bristol-to-Berlin transplant never got the same attention as peers like Shifted and Sigha. After over a year of silence he's re-launching as Blue Hour, and while you could view the rebranding as contrived, he does sound like a different producer here. Raw and retro, the tracks keep the bounciness of his old work but home in on a vintage techno vibe with a much sunnier disposition than his friends' gothic obsessions. "Flow State" is the EP's most basic number, with a loose, improvisatory feel to its percussion. Stuttering snares and a splashy hi-hat take turns building tension, and a single chord is endlessly rinsed. "Meridian" is also based on a simple chord phrase, though the fluttering background melodies hint at a euphoric climax that doesn't quite hit. The implied trance influence comes to a head on "Solace," which starts off like another simple techno workout. But listen carefully and you'll hear a roiling synth melody in the background that later takes hold, overdriven and pitched-up like a cheesy Virus pad. It's a left turn that could easily catch you off-guard. The EP is wrapped up in a neat little bow with the brief "Inner Reflections," which sounds like a fragment of a trance breakdown. Milking the new alias for all its worth, the brighter timbres of Blue Hour are a welcome addition to the UK techno sphere.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Flow State A2 Meridian B1 Solace B2 Inner Reflections
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