- Big, swaggering party techno.
- The title track of GRRL's new single feels like it exists in several eras at once. "Side By Side" has the reverb and spaciousness of '80s new beat, but also the puffy textures of post-PC Music club music and the softness of '90s electronica. It's built to be maximal, but hardly feels heavy, as if all the elements were made of some futuristic lightweight alloy. By the time the breaks come in for the second drop halfway through, it's the kind of syncretic, everything-at-once pastiche that GRRL excels at.
Of course, putting a bunch of different things together wouldn't be so satisfying if the North Carolina producer wasn't so good at the fundamentals. The flipside, "Ultra Heaven," sounds a bit like the photonegative of "Side By Side," with a similarly catchy melody, only this time fast and jerky. Veering between hard and soft—with a gilded synth pattern that would charm Armin Van Buuren in one section—it's another excellent study in construction and contrasts.
Tracklist01. Side By Side
02. Ultra Heaven