- Gerard Hanson's music often sounds lonely, a trait he shares with a lot of electro producers. His records are few and far between, though 2016 has been more fruitful: he released an E.R.P. 12-inch in April, and now he's back with his first Convextion record since 2007. Oddly, it lands on Berlin label Acido, who usually stick close to their established, tight-knit community. But when you put the record on it makes sense, as Hanson puts away the drum machines and zeroes in on the essence of his sound.
The record consists of two side-long cuts, each around 12 minutes. They both focus on similar nose-diving chord progressions that evoke someone processing bad news in real-time. The A-side's slow crawl is a far cry from Hanson's dextrous electro work, and its beatless canvas gives it plenty of room to feel out—imagine a Dopplereffekt track wiggling from its tight confines and billowing into the space around it. Essentially one long exhale, the track gets weirder and trippier as it runs along, but never lets go of its sadness. The flipside is even more melancholy, with less movement. The synth leads stream out in long, flowing patterns that recall mid-'70s Pink Floyd. It might sound different than what we're used to from Convextion, but what hasn't changed is his exquisite stillness. If anything, Acido 22 underlines why Hanson has such a dedicated following: his talents extend considerably beyond the limits of the electro that first made him famous and tap into something more universal and human.
TracklistA Untitled
B Untitled