- Gonno joins forces with Taiwanese label JIN for an EP of sublime techno and one hell of a secret weapon.
- Sunao Gonno produces from the heart. His tracks glow with a rosy melancholy that could equally serve peak Panorama Bar or sunset sessions at Tempelhof. He's name-dropped My Bloody Valentine and Ryuichi Sakamoto as influences, so his penchant for creating shimmering cloudlike cuts should come as no surprise. With his new EP, JIN08, Gonno stays true to form, picking up where he left off with his "Paradise Patterns" remix for the Taiwanese imprint, delivering dreamy, utopian house alongside a surprisingly crunchy techno left turn.
Any track called "Energy Flash" should always bring to mind the Joey Beltram stomper of the '90s. And while the EP's opener isn't quite in the same realm, the track's euphoric energy still packs a punch. Bouncy Floorplan-style drums bubble over seraphic-sounding synths, with a honeyed vocal drone that's enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat. It's goosebump-inducing house, with a Voiski remix that fattens out the synth lines, doubling down on the track's harmonic textures.
Speaking to Juno Plus a few years back, Gonno explained how he loves straightforwardly beautiful and melodic music, which is what we've come to expect with his releases over the past decade. But on "Final Hate," he explores dance music's darker underbelly—a Blawan-style industrial body mover that feels like it's bleeding the speakers dry for extra wobble. Even in the most hardcore clubbing corners, this one could rattle a few heads with its squished LFOs, abrasive snare snaps and squelching, time-warped breakdown. It's a menacing secret weapon to the Dozzys and Nobus of the world.
The final track, "Arabica," is a steaming mug of warm ambient music, best served when serotonin levels are running low and the soft embrace of bed is calling. The delicately tapped piano keys and seductive guitar strings sit somewhere between his previous releases of "Nikita" and "Already Almost." It's brief and tantalizing, leaving you wanting more. That's often the case with Gonno, whose heartfelt rhythms glisten with heady hedonism, while the occasional curveball shows he's unafraid to mix it up. JIN08 is a compact but all-encompassing view of a producer at play in any genre.