- A lot has happened to Skudge since their last album, 2011's Phantom. Gustaf Wallnerström resigned from the duo, leaving Elias Landberg to carry the torch. But he hasn't been operating entirely solo: Sam Forsberg, AKA Samo, has stepped in to help with live shows. The pair have also been producing together under two different aliases, Four Legs and Split Image, and that collaboration makes its way onto the latest Skudge album, Balancing Point.
Suffice to say Skudge's sound has changed, for better and worse. But fans will be pleased that the Skudge essentials—a powerful economy of sound, modern classicism, club functionality and a deep, dubby hue—are all present on Balancing Point. In Landberg's hands, however, everything has mellowed out a bit, which brings a tuneful quality to even the most techy and driving tracks. On "Air Walk," "Tides" and "Thesis," the metallic precision of the hi-hats and snares are contrasted by cooling pads that coat the mix like a balm.
Balancing Point peaks when the music gets deeper and more house-informed. Tracks like "Polar" and "Falling," or the shadier "Vertigo," are misty tundras of subtle chords and beats with rounded edges. "Aloft," on the other hand, is bassy and hypnotic acid, with waves of noise that rise and fall. The tunneling effect of "Anode" is just as entrancing. It's another piece of potent acid techno, but now the atmosphere is much more heavy and imposing.
True to its name, Balancing Point is neat and even-keeled—almost excessively so. The album follows a safe, linear path between its ambient bookends, divided evenly by the interlude "Elapse." The music never dips into extremes. It's all moonlit and somewhat muted, even trapping its club tracks in perpetual contemplation.
Tracklist01. Immersion
02. Polar (with Samo DJ)
03. Drifting
04. Air Walk
05. Aloft
06. Elapse
07. Vertigo
08. Tides
09. Falling
10. Thesis
11. Anode
12. Balancing Point