- You have to admire the way Alan Abrahams follows his impulses, incongruous as they often are. Though firmly couched in house and techno, he keeps one foot in another sound entirely: synth pop. He doesn't DJ, and at his club shows he's a one-man band, dancing in flashy stage outfits and crooning into old silver mics. His tracks have a glowing personality that makes them stand out, whether they're catchy vocal numbers like "Find Me" or club bombs like 2010's "Life Magically Is." This unconventional flair has long made him a natural fit on Perlon, the Berlin label behind his latest EP, Sportable.
Each track on Sportable shows a different side of Abraham's talent. "Continue" echoes new wave, but without any whiff of throwback—its glossy beat, complete with gated reverb on the claps, sets the stage for Abrahams' deep and melodramatic vocals ("Begin / And continue / unlocking the life / that's within you"). "Medelin" uses the same production style on a more straightforward club track, armed with a descending bassline and hints of sci-fi camp. "Behind" is a lovely bit of downtempo featuring Abrahams' go-to flutist, L_cio. This one shows Portable at somewhere near full tilt: glitchy bleeps and Matmos-style sonics offset rich piano chords and L_cio's silky flute, while Abrahams coos "Easily I / leave this behind." Portable's sound is all about balance—between production and songwriting, organic sounds and electronic ones—and he rarely does it better than this.
TracklistA1 Medellin
A2 Behind feat. L_cio
B1 Continue
B2 Continue (A Capella)