- With help from Barker and Truncate, Luke Slater goes through heaven and hell on his new EP.
- Last year's Planetary Assault Systems album was a perfect encapsulation of the legendary techno producer's sound almost three decades into his career. Aptly titled Sky Scraping, the release was a barrage of towering, hypnotic techno that felt both haunting and mesmerising, a beautiful sensory overload.
Luke Slater's latest release for Token, Devotion, is a companion to that 2021 LP. Its title track is an ecstatic techno fever dream, built on a psychedelic flurry of toms and a restless vocal sample. Los Angeles producer Truncate, who is equally renowned for his heart palpitation-inducing slabs of techno, offers up a remix that amps up the kick and vocal for a harder cut better suited to Europe's most bloodthirsty (or at least speed-thirsty) dance floors.
The B-side boasts the previously unreleased "Eden Tide," with dashes of cosmic synth beams layered over a fluid stream of hi-hats and atmospherics that give it a near-oceanic depth—it washes over you in waves. As huge as all these tracks are, Barker's remix of "Eden Tide" hogs the spotlight. The producer, who has a taste for trance-influenced, kick-free floating techno tracks, morphs it into a weightless groove dotted by angelic vocal fragments and reverberating piano keys. Finishing off on this bright note, Devotion offers techno at both its grittiest and most ethereal, like a journey from hell to heaven.
Tracklist01. Devotion
02. Devotion (Truncate Remix)
03. Eden Tide
04. Eden Tide (Barker Remix)