- Melodic techno from a resident of De School.
- If you haven't come across JP Enfant's music, especially if you enjoy techno with variety in its rhythms or a melodic edge, his catalogue is worth seeking out. The Dutch artist, a resident DJ at De School and a former resident at Trouw, has built a tidy discography since his first record in 2014. Tracks like "Sirens," which Daniel Avery featured on his DJ-Kicks mix, "Subconscious Leverage" and "Echoes Of You" show a producer with plenty of ideas who aims to move dance floors on a deep, emotional level. There has sometimes been a nagging feeling, however, that for all their ambition, the elements of his tracks don't always sing harmoniously, something that's true in places on The Strangers, the latest EP for his own label.
This shows up in parts that tend to clutter the grooves rather than enhance them. On "Shell Beach," a brooding broken-beat cut, it's the R2-D2 robot chirps that emerge from the mist of the breakdown. "The Red Room" has plenty of heft and atmosphere in its tense techno groove, but the synth part in the track's upper midrange is static and uninteresting. The same goes for the melody in "Waves Of Repose." As The Strangers and the rest of his discography shows, Enfant is particularly adept at creating affecting atmospheres, and when his rhythms do lock into step, as on "Anemones," a triumphant techno cut that skilfully deploys strings, he has a good thing going on.
TracklistA1 Anemones
A2 Shell Beach
B1 The Red Room
B2 Waves Of Repose