Philadephia-based producer King Britt begins Back 2 Black with an unassuming bassline, writhing about amidst clicks of percussion. The low…

Philadephia-based producer King Britt begins Back 2 Black with an unassuming bassline, writhing about amidst clicks of percussion. The low instrument throbs in contrast to the tinny pops that add an organic sparkle to the track from the very beginning. The artist raises the cutoff of the instrument unexpectedly, and the searing energy of the instrument can be felt before the percussion begins to take a more predictable route. The bass is filled with this structured hyperactivity, repeatedly reaching up to a pair of higher notes that screech in comparison to the thudding lower tones.

The percussion inhibits this wonderful step sequence, keeping the listener on their toes and breathing with a dynamic rhythm. The ever-thumping bass charges onward, snapping at certain points, rising high above and beyond the beat. It even falls into that laser-like, almost nauseating squelch of similar to that of Acid House. A echoing melody joins the affray, what sound like guitar notes croon out past the heavy beat, coaxed by the now bombastic sound of the bass. Twinkling sounds like fireflies begin to ping off of the low guiding hand of the bass as King Britt’s sonic landscape broadens to include more and more factors.

The bassline begins to fizzle as it rises to the surface of the mix, the whole track shimmering vibrancy and movement.

Too Shay begins with a bassline and drum seemingly joined at the hip. The kick drum sharing the heavy and rough texture of the bass. A trio of low notes seeps its way into the mix, as King Britt pushes the sounds right up against the listener. A dissonant alarm-like sound sidles its way in as we begin to release that this track harbours a little more intensity than the last. Where the last track used melody to move the listener, Too Shay‘s instrumentation rings like a siren, entrancing anyone in its path. Delayed synth notes scatter against the shifting, angular beat. Gradually, the artist begins to pull depth into the soundscape with arpeggiating notes emerging from the murk of bass and drum, only to slowly dive back under.

The track swirls with sound, synth notes moving like a dizzying carousel throughout the stereo field. But that hammering alarm sound, meshed with the unchanging bassline create a much more mesmerising effect.

The two tracks move with a unique rhythm, but King Britt utilises different methodologies to create this movement. In one song, we find the artist keeping the sounds he uses to a minimum, scattering here and there. Whereas in the other, we see him gently push sounds until they breach the wall of rhythm he has created. In both we hear an incredibly successful producer, fusing ideas of deep and meaningful melodic work with enthralling percussion

https://blackcataloguemusic.bandcamp.com/album/back-2-black