Sansibar - Sans Musique

  • Where dark techno and electro meet trance ecstasy.
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  • Helsinki producer Sunny Seppä, who releases music as Sansibar, first cut his chops making crisp, take-no-prisoners Detroit-style electro. Then he nearly perfected that sound on 2020's "Absence Of Being"—it's hard to imagine a better accolade than when Danilo Plessow slid the track seamlessly into a forgotten white label from the Detroit duo Rachel Martin & Kapp Ivory on his fabric Presents mix. Not one to be pigeonholed, Seppä's more recent releases have moved from the Motor City to the White Isle. "Game Over," for example, was a miniature encapsulation of 2020's dance music trends, bringing together dense breakbeats with a trance-referencing lead line. It was just as likely to elicit ID requests as inspire tired debates on techno Twitter (and we all know where those end ). Sans Musique, his second full-length, works both sides of his brain, as shapeshifting drum programming and rattling bass are lit up by vibrant melodies. If you're coming to Sans Musique looking for the cotton candy gloss of "Game Over," you'll find sugar highs on a few of the tracks. The pristine sound design of "Aurora Eclipse" gets into the introspective side of trance as Seppä channels his inner Mixmaster Morris. "Send It" speeds things up as its broken break slowly wobbles into place before a squidgy synth line lets loose full sunrise-on-the-playa energy. But more than just cookie-cutter revivalism, the best tracks on the record bring together these music trends du jour with Seppä's electro background. The vocal refrain and the gated chord progression on "NRJ" give off progressive vibes, but the breakbeat underneath ricochets across the stereo like a jolt of nervous laughter. This shapeshifting drum programming is one of the record's strengths. Sans Musique requires vigilant attention if you're playing it out as the drum sections slowly fill themselves out in unexpected ways. "Fantasmas" starts as a crisp electro track, but disintegrates and reforms into contemporary UK techno alongside its bass womps and ropy synths. Think Batu and DJ Stingray deep in a studio session. It's this nimbleness that squares the circle between dark electro and techno and the emotional highs of trance on Sans Musique. Seppä's first releases brushed shoulders with industrial strength EBM on labels like Natural Sciences. Since then, he's loosened up considerably. And while this record is definitely still heavy, there is a lightness to it, thanks to some celestial high-ends and the occasional comedic relief via the vocal samples. Without these bits of flamboyance, the cavernous breakbeat on "Scully (Earth People Mix)" might be overbearing, but the chord progression keeps his feet firmly in the PLUR 90s (heck, even the darkest track puns on this—just say "Teal'c" out loud). Sans Musique puts both tough-as-nails techno and pillowy trance up against a funhouse mirror to create tracks that are as loving as they are ferocious.
  • Tracklist
      01. Scully (Earth People Mix) 02. Force Of Equilibrium 03. NRJ 04. Teal'c 05. Send It 06. Fantasmas 07. Aurora Eclipse
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