- Marcel Dettmann gets playful, sort of.
- Put your hand up if you didn't expect Marcel Dettmann's first 12-inch since 2019 to feature a track with a belching vocal sample that sounds like Skrillex collaborating with Nitzer Ebb. Well I didn't expect it, anyways. For Command, Dettmann hops over to Modeselektor's Seilscheibenpfeiler with an unusually flamboyant LP that balances that German duo's sense of humour with the rigid, textural grooves that Dettmann himself prefers, sometimes both in the same track.
The A-side is the real attraction here, especially with the goofy, over-the-top "Enter" and its vocal sample that sounds like a robot chewing through an aluminum can. The bouncy kick drum only adds to the vibe—it sounds like Dettmann was in a particularly playful mood for this session. The kick on "Command" is another head-turner, the kind of perfectly sculpted thwack that takes years in techno to master. Here it lumbers along at an almost Belgian New Beat pace, with a discordant arpeggio like sparks shooting off the grinding machinery.
The flipside is more typical Dettmann—heads-down techno cuts with weird, craggy surfaces—but even a track like "Control," which on first listen could be any other Dettmann tune, has an odd touch. Every time the kick hits it sounds like rattling metal, as if there were a screw loose in there somewhere. Whether you're looking for bold big room tracks that make people pull up Shazam, or more gritty, devils-in-the-details stuff, Command—which is one of the most distinct records in Dettmann's catalogue—has you covered.
Tracklist01. Command
02. Enter
03. Return
04. Control