- Virtuosic techno with a healthy dose of uplift and optimism.
- "Damn that stinks u gotta play one genre ur whole entire life," reads an old X post from Adrian "Ace" Mojica. It's a well-earned flex. As a treasured member of the New York electronic scene, the Connecticut-raised DJ and multi-instrumentalist has built a career out of blending countless genres with skill and flair. Gnashing jungle sits alongside soul-stirring house, and it's all made with a depth and intent that goes beyond the dance floor and into earnest messaging. On Power, a four-track EP from 2019, he implored people to "come together, as the people of Earth, to save it." It's been four years since then—during which the planet has weathered innumerable more crises—and on his new album, Save The World, AceMo's drive to instill positive change hasn't diminished one bit. In a recent interview with ninaprotocol, he explained how he made this album with "a more hopeful sense, knowing that something better is always on the way. They're tracks to help save the day." He captures hope in a bottle with what might be the definitive record of his career so far.
Where 2017's Black Populous was dimly lit, sparse techno, and 2019's Existential was contemplative and at times tentative, Save The World is 15 tracks of laser-focused forward motion. Jackhammer kicks and sizzling hi-hats spark like frayed wire, channelling the kind of sonic electricity you'd find on the soundtrack of a vintage fighting game—only in high-definition modern sound. Having produced tracks on his mobile phone for earlier projects, this time AceMo employs the Korg EM-1 and the Moog Matriarch to conjure Save The World's fat, growling basslines and skittish arpeggios. He swirls together the DNA of trance, techno and IDM with the spontaneity and freeform compositional approach of jazz.
These are lengthy cuts with few lulls, averaging at about six minutes long, but the LP whizzes by, mainly because time flies when you're having fun. There's a sense of endless possibility to the luminous chords and driving percussive lines on tracks like "Raver1," "Chords" and "Save the Day (Big Limit Mix)"—just a few of the high-octane jolters where AceMo employs a head-spinning call-and-response dynamic between the low- and high-ends. Synth leads spiral skyward, modulated until they emote like yearning vocals, while the sawtooth basslines on tracks like "My Mind" and "An Epic" excavate new terrain for those melodies to float over. The tracks are brimming with energy yet never overproduced. The sheer pace and ever-changing sound palette is like being vaulted through a wormhole of new dimensions with previously undiscovered colours and textures.
By the end of Save The World it feels as if AceMo has traversed the seas, the skies, space and beyond. The deceptively titled "Fun Forward" is an underwater expedition that moves tentatively, guided by a searching bass and wailing lead. It gradually darkens until it's purely percussion, only to suddenly resurface right at the end. "New Cosmo" is peppered with glitzy stabs that twinkle like a cluster of stars, and choral vocals imbue the track with the sense of awe that accompanies phenomena like the Northern Lights.
In that same interview with ninaprotocol, AceMo said his label Sonic Messengers represents a collective who send messages via sonic waves. From the guttural call to adventure on opener "An Epic" to the reverb-drenched chords that ripple like water on "A New Light," he paints a hazy yet serene glimpse of a brighter future. It's a transcendent narrative best listened to in order. In another old X post, AceMo reminded his followers that he "failed jazz music theory and switched into music production and now we here." Not to celebrate another man's failures, but with this latest addition to his discography, "here" is proving to be an endlessly rewarding place. With each new release, AceMo's vision of creating a "living museum" of electronic music's past, present and future comes closer to materialising.
Tracklist01. An Epic
02. Chords
03. My Mind
04. Dub Wave
05. Amazing
06. Dreaming In The Studio
07. Fun Forward
08. Save The World
09. Water In The Sky
10. A Million Trys, You Got Somethin'
11. Arp Dreams
12. Save The Day (Big Limit Mix)
13. Raver1
14. New Cosmo