- A Made Up Sound's techno bangs as hard as anyone's, but what you're really feeling is the drama of it all. From the stereo-panning breakdowns of "Take The Plunge" to more recent synth jams of operatic scale, Dave Huismans' music revels in stacking suspense and conjuring shocks. It's no different on his latest EP, Thin Air. Tension is palpable throughout the title track, until, squeezed between warping sirens and a dark melodic coda, it's drained of oxygen. That sense of anticipation is ever-present, and Huismans' capacity to ambush listeners is largely intact.
Opening with broken techno that flashes like a distant strobe, "I Repeat" catches you off guard with the close-up ring of a cowbell, before coating the drums in lush synths. The latter points to another side of Huismans' production work, a love of rich, layered samples. His sound collages are dense and moreish, and when they blend with propulsive energy, as on his Fever LP, the results are remarkable. Which is only half true of Thin Air, whose B-side finds Huismans a little stuck. "All Out"'s melodic slosh of synths revisits the sound of Fever's "Aquatic Family Affair" without adding much to it. Evoking UK funky, the snaking synths of "Waybackmachine" mine a recent past without any distinction. Thin Air is thrilling in places and enjoyable in others, but it ultimately feels inessential.
TracklistA1 Thin Air
A2 I Repeat
B1 All Out
B2 Waybackmachine