- A leading techno producer looks to trance.
- It's called Headstrong. The artwork looks like this. And Randomer and Clouds run the label. There are no garys for guessing that the music on Headstrong is brutally hard. However, HS002, a solo release from Randomer, includes a mildly unexpected twist: the influence of trance. Rohan Walder hasn't messed much with the sound before, but HS002 arrives at a time of an ongoing trance reappraisal, with one of the world's most exciting new techno scenes bathed in trancey melodies. Indeed, it's easy to imagine a track like "Hidden" destroying a Copenhagen warehouse party.
"Hidden" is the most obviously trance-influenced track. It's also the record's strongest, based on two brilliantly obnoxious synth lines—one sneaky, the other raucous—and the type of deep-fried drums Walder has built his name on. "I dunno what the fuck's wrong with you, but now's the time to sort your life out!" shouts an MC as the drums drop on "Sylo." The track is more hardcore than trance, but the no-shits-given energy of "Hidden" lives on. "Stigma" is like a more refined reimagining of "Sylo," while, relatively speaking at least, "Fat Purple Figs" also holds something back—it shouts, rather than screams, "rave!" If you're a DJ who lets it all hang out, then Headstrong is worth paying attention to.
TracklistA1 Fat Purple Figs
A2 Stigma
B1 Sylo
B2 Hidden
