- The Pure Space boss goes psytrance. Almost.
- Sydney underground staple Andy Garvey's taste in music is always evolving. Her career demands it. It's how she's collected a string of prestigious roles within her scene, from seasoned radio host at Aussie stations triple j and FBi Radio to internationally-booked touring DJ to the boss of her own boundary-pushing label, Pure Space—all because of her inimitable ear for hearing what's next.
Her digging and DJing skills have become sharpened to a point (her mixes are usually immaculate), but her productions largely stuck to tried-and-true electro tropes. With her new Relativity EP, Garvey both ventures out of her comfort zones and tightens the screws on her rhythms.
Bringing the same adventurous energy as her DJ sets, Relativity puts aside Garvey's usual sci-fi electro to give trance a spin. The result is three kaleidoscopic, spine-tingling pieces of club gear, each one varying slightly in tempo and energy and toeing the line between psytrance and techno. She revs the engine from the top with “Heavy,” a 50/50 psytrance-techno hybrid with a bubbling bassline that maxes out at 150 BPM, quite a few clicks faster than anything she's put out before.
Vocals are another common—and new—thread here. On "Let's Go," a woman's voice takes commanding authority, ensuring we don't get left behind as Garvey cranks up the tempo to 160 BPM, whipping listeners into a whirlwind of echoing, buzzy synths. Still keeping a consistent pace around 145 BPM, "Who Am I" rounds out the release as more of a slow-burning number, with its dizzying crescendo only hitting in the last minute.
Garvey launched her label, Pure Space, over three years ago, but Relativity marks the first time she's actually released her own music on it. Her instincts here paid off, choosing the right time for a spacey yet driving EP that is fit for her heady, brain-tickling incubator of local talent.
Tracklist01. Heavy
02. Let's Go
03. Who Am I
04. Let's Go (Different Shades' Horizontal Mix)