- Rui Ho's music is a tangle of styles and perspectives. Since the Chinese-born, Berlin-based producer's 2016 debut, questions of identity have helped inspire an experimental club sound where Western and Eastern elements collide. "It is about a war that [has] never happened, but has happened so many times in my head," they have said of that debut. "A starting point of the expression of my frustration and the hope of reaching something new." Rui Ho's latest EP, Becoming Is An Eventful Situation, can also resemble what's been called "power ambient," a style in which you don't drift so much as struggle, like a current that suddenly becomes a whirlpool.
The first two tracks are richly melodic takes on this sound. On the title track, synth chords ping through dense harmonic clouds, under which insect-wing effects spin across the stereo field. "Theia Impact," a reference to Greek mythology and how the moon might have formed, elicits a similar wonder, with horns, flutes and hand bells adding to the blissful mood. The drum version, far from weighing things down, is surprisingly nimble. Other tracks remain uplifted even as they're roiled by certain elements. The flutes and synth arps on "Albafica" twirl above surging bass drones and heavy kicks, as though dancing amid a tropical storm. The trance-influenced "Supernova" is a more straightforward rush, and the track that will most likely connect with dance floors. The EP also comes with two solid remixes. Dis Fig's graceful rework of "Albafica" has a symphonic edge, while x/o offers a stripped-back take on "Supernova."
Tracklist01. Becoming Is An Eventful Situation (Intro)
02. Theia Impact
03. Albafica
04. Supernova
05. Theia Impact (Drum Version)
06. Albafica (Dis Fig Remix)
07. Supernova (X/O Hypermix)