- "If house is a feeling, then 'Insurgency' is me subverting that feeling," says Leonce of his full debut release. It might be more accurate to say he's returning to a feeling that was always there. Just as the "classic raw house tracks" that inspired him hid melancholy beneath a hedonistic exterior, Leonce's club tracks channel "struggles in his own life" and the darker aspects of minority experience in the US.
His method might seem counterintuitive to those who've heard similar themes handled by other young producers. The pyrotechnic sound of much new club music articulates conflict and turbulence directly. Leonce, on the other hand, favours a cool, creeping minimalism. His hip-winding beats mostly hover around 120 BPM, and emphasise the roll of a syncopated kick drum over the crash and bang of snares and percussion. His melodies, picked out on synth strings, winds or tuned percussion, are minor-key and seductively simple.
Insurgency mostly consolidates this sound rather than pushing it further. The title track is actually "Shadows," from last year's free mixtape of the same name, minus the looped vocal from ballroom house figurehead Divoli S'vere. Two more Shadows tracks, the killer "Marimba Track"' and the weaker "Truffle Track," are also included on the vinyl. Several new tracks work with similar materials and moods, all aiming for that sweet spot where simplicity becomes minimalist dynamite. There are near-misses—the cluttered "Alesis Drums"—and hits, like the brilliant "Flute Strike," whose melodies dance like spooked birds.
Leonce explores new directions in the EP's second half. On "Advent" and "Jungle," stabler grooves roll out for six and eight minutes respectively, concision giving way to patient hypnosis. "Jungle," in particular, is almost provocative in its endless, poker-faced reshuffling of sidestick, shaker, toms, kick. Over time, this stasis seems to heighten the track's darker side. Its balance of sensuality and threat isn't a thousand miles away from those old house records.
TracklistA1 Snakes
A2 Insurgency
A3 Flute Strike
A4 Apparition
A5 Alesis Drums
B1 Jungle
B2 Advent
B3 Marimba Track
B4 Truffle Track