- Max McFerren takes to dance music like a toddler with crayons, gleefully scribbling outside the lines and revelling in the wacky shapes that result. It's an approach that extends to his newest project, Complete Walkthru, which isn't all that different from MCFERRDOG or the music under his own name. On My Friend Right Here, a four-track 12-inch for First Second Label, McFerren sharpens the dance floor focus and sounds as beatific as ever. The fake-out at the beginning of "About To Get Laze" is among the sweetest moments in McFerren's discography. The track starts like a lumbering techno tune before a sudden pivot to blissful breakbeat, complete with a bubbly IDM bassline. McFerren is equally giddy on "Nothing Will Ever Be So Good (Drum Edit)," where he works pieces of drum breaks into an otherwise leaden kick pattern.
Laced with chattering vocal samples, "Summoning The Gear" and "My Friend Right Here" are darker and more techno-oriented. The title track is built on a busted drum pattern—a hallmark of McFerren's dance tracks—while "Summoning The Gear" is chaotic acid techno with exaggerated textures. Even on these straightforward tunes, there's almost no sense of balance or conservatism. Where those scatterbrained tendencies were once distracting, My Friend Right Here gets the balance right for McFerren's most well-rounded release yet.
TracklistA1 About To Get Laze
A2 Summoning The Gear
B1 My Friend Right Here
B2 Nothing Will Ever Be So Good (Drum Edit)